Why is Rice Sprayed with Folic Acid? A Public Health Perspective

November 14, 2025 •

3 min read

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over two billion people worldwide are affected by micronutrient deficiencies, which is a key driver for initiatives like fortifying staple foods. Rice is fortified with folic acid as a major public health strategy to combat folate deficiency, which can cause serious birth defects and other health issues.

Quick Summary

Rice is fortified with folic acid primarily to prevent neural tube birth defects like spina bifida and anencephaly. This process restores nutrients lost during milling, ensuring widely consumed staple foods provide critical vitamins to improve population-level health, especially among women of childbearing age.

Key Points

Preventing Birth Defects: The primary reason for fortifying rice is to prevent neural tube defects like spina bifida and anencephaly, which are linked to folate deficiency early in pregnancy.
Restoring Lost Nutrients: Milling white rice removes the nutrient-rich bran and germ; fortification restores folic acid and other B vitamins lost during this process.
Leveraging Staple Foods: Rice is a dietary staple for billions worldwide, making fortification an efficient and cost-effective way to improve the nutritional intake of a large population.
Boosting Overall Health: Beyond birth defect prevention, folic acid fortification helps prevent megaloblastic anemia and supports cognitive and cardiovascular health by reducing homocysteine levels.
Extrusion for Effectiveness: The use of extruded Fortified Rice Kernels (FRK) ensures that nutrients are embedded within the grain, improving retention during washing and cooking, unlike simple coating methods.
Addressing Global Malnutrition: This initiative is a key strategy for international organizations like the WHO and WFP to address "hidden hunger" and improve health outcomes in vulnerable populations.

The Importance of Folic Acid in Public Health

Folic acid, a synthetic form of vitamin B9, is vital for cell growth, DNA synthesis, and red blood cell formation. While natural folate is found in foods like leafy greens, it's easily lost during cooking. Dietary gaps and folate's heat sensitivity led to concerns about widespread folate deficiency, prompting mandatory folic acid fortification of staple grains in many countries to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs).

Why Rice is Targeted for Fortification

Rice is a primary target because it's a staple for over half the global population. The milling of white rice removes the nutrient-rich bran and germ, which contain most of the natural B vitamins and minerals. Fortification aims to replenish these lost nutrients, with folic acid being a key addition.

How the Fortification Process Works

Extrusion technology is the most common and effective method for fortifying rice. This involves creating Fortified Rice Kernels (FRK).

Extrusion: Rice flour, a vitamin and mineral mix (including folic acid), and water are processed in an extruder, then shaped into kernels resembling regular rice.
Blending: These FRK are blended with unfortified rice at a low ratio to ensure a consistent nutrient dose per serving.
Spraying/Coating: A less common method involves spraying nutrients onto rice grains and sealing them with an edible film.

The Critical Link Between Folic Acid and Birth Defects

Fortifying rice is crucial for preventing neural tube defects (NTDs) like spina bifida and anencephaly. The neural tube develops early in pregnancy, and insufficient folic acid during this time can cause these serious defects. Mandatory fortification in countries like the U.S. has significantly reduced NTD prevalence, ensuring women of childbearing age have adequate folic acid intake.

Comparison of Fortification Methods for Rice


Feature	Extrusion Technology (FRK)	Coating/Spraying Method	Biofortification (Genetic)
Micronutrient Retention	Excellent, even after washing and cooking	Poor to moderate, nutrients can wash off during cooking	Variable, depends on crop development
Nutrient Uniformity	Highly uniform, ensures consistent dosage per serving	Potential for uneven distribution, risking under- or over-dosing	Variable distribution within the crop
Cost-Effectiveness	Highly cost-effective for large-scale production	Lower initial cost, but reduced effectiveness limits value	High R&D costs, long development time
Consumer Acceptance	Very high, as kernels are visually and texturally identical to regular rice	Can cause changes in color or taste, affecting acceptability	Acceptance can be a challenge due to public perception of GMOs
Flexibility	Allows for the addition of multiple nutrients, including iron and other vitamins	Limited to surface application, affecting the range of nutrients	Limited to the nutrients developed in the new crop strain

A Broader Public Health Impact

Folic acid fortification also combats other issues linked to folate deficiency, such as megaloblastic anemia, cognitive decline, and high homocysteine levels, a cardiovascular risk factor. Since rice is widely consumed, fortification helps diverse populations, including those with limited access to nutrient-rich foods, improving health outcomes, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Conclusion: The Quiet Revolution in Public Health

Rice fortification with folic acid is a strategic public health measure to address folate deficiency and prevent serious birth defects. Extrusion technology offers an effective, low-cost method to deliver essential vitamins without changing dietary habits. This intervention has significantly reduced birth defects and provides broader health benefits, highlighting its importance in preventative medicine. Rice fortification programs show the profound impact of adding a crucial nutrient to a common food on population health.

Learn more about this global health initiative through the World Food Programme's factsheet on rice fortification: https://cdn.wfp.org/wfp.org/publications/Rice%20Fortification%20Factsheet.pdf

Frequently Asked Questions

Folate is the naturally occurring form of vitamin B9 found in foods like spinach and oranges, while folic acid is the synthetic, more stable form used in supplements and for fortifying foods like rice.

No, modern rice fortification methods, particularly extrusion technology used to create fortified rice kernels, ensure that the fortified rice is visually, texturally, and aromatically identical to unfortified rice, leading to high consumer acceptance.

Not all white rice is fortified, but in countries with mandatory fortification policies, like the U.S. and Canada, most enriched white rice is fortified with folic acid. Consumers can check the packaging for the term “enriched” or specific fortification labels.

Brown rice retains its bran and germ layers, which contain most of the natural folate and other nutrients. As it is less processed, it does not typically require the enrichment process that milled white rice undergoes.

If the fortification is done using the robust extrusion method where nutrients are embedded within the kernel, washing and cooking do not significantly reduce the folic acid content. However, with older coating methods, some nutrients could be lost.

For the general population, the amount of folic acid in fortified staples is carefully calculated to be safe and beneficial. However, individuals with specific health conditions or those taking high-dose supplements should consult a healthcare provider.

Extensive research and international bodies like the WHO have confirmed that rice fortification is a safe and effective public health strategy at recommended levels. Monitoring programs ensure that fortification levels are appropriate to minimize any potential risks.

You can usually tell if rice is fortified by checking the product packaging. It will often be labeled as “enriched” or “fortified,” and the nutrition label will list folic acid (or folate) among the added nutrients.