California leads push to add key vitamin to corn tortillas, aimed at reducing Latino birth defects
California leads push to add key vitamin to corn tortillas, aimed at reducing Latino birth defects
New law requiring extra ingredient in tortillas expands as US states follow suit
California’s new law — and the state’s huge buying power — could help expand its adoption nationwide
California is the first state to require food makers to add folic acid, a crucial vitamin, to corn masa flour used to make tortillas and other foods
Fifteen years after she lost her first baby to a rare and devastating birth defect, Andrea Lopez takes comfort in knowing that other Latina mothers might finally avoid the same pain.
In January, California became the first state to require food makers to add folic acid, a crucial vitamin, to corn masa flour used to make tortillas and other traditional foods widely used in her community.
It’s a long-delayed move aimed at reducing Hispanic infants' disproportionately high rates of serious conditions called neural tube defects, which claimed Lopez’s son, Gabriel Cude, when he was 10 days old.
“It’s such a small effort for such a tremendous impact,” said Lopez, 44, who lives in Bakersfield and is now a lawyer with two young daughters. “There is very little that I wouldn’t do to spare anybody this heartache.”