Tag: Folic acid fortification

It's a common misconception that wheat is sprayed with folic acid; in fact, this doesn't happen at all. Instead, governments worldwide mandate that folic acid be added to flour during the milling process as a proven public health initiative to prevent serious birth defects.

According to the National Institutes of Health, infants from 0 to 6 months require an Adequate Intake of 65 mcg DFE of folate per day. When considering formula options, many parents question, "Does Kabrita have enough folic acid?" Kabrita's goat milk-based formulas are fortified to ensure they meet and often exceed regulatory standards for this critical nutrient.

Following a 1996 regulation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), mandatory fortification of enriched grain products with folic acid began in January 1998. This major public health policy was implemented to increase folate intake and significantly reduce the incidence of neural tube defects. So, when did they start adding folic acid to food, and why was it so critical?

Over 50% of the naturally occurring folate in food is absorbed by the body, a stark contrast to the higher absorption rate of its synthetic counterpart, folic acid. But what is folate, not folic acid, and why is this distinction so important for your health?

Neural tube defects dropped by over 25% in the U.S. in the years following mandatory fortification, sparking interest in when they started fortifying grains with folic acid. The process began in the late 1990s as a critical public health initiative to reduce the risk of severe birth defects.

According to a 2024 commentary in *The Lancet Global Health*, folate inadequacy impacts over half the world’s population—more than 4 billion people—making it a global health issue. While the deficiency is rare in countries with mandatory food fortification, understanding where is folate deficiency most common is crucial, with low- and middle-income countries bearing a disproportionate burden.