California leads push to add key vitamin to corn tortillas, aimed at reducing Latino birth defects - AP News
Quick Insights
The Bottom Line
California mandates folic acid in corn tortillas to prevent birth defects in Latino infants.
How This Affects You
If you are Latino or consume corn tortillas regularly, this policy could reduce your risk of having a child born with spina bifida or anencephaly by increasing folic acid intake through a staple food.
AI Summary
California is leading an effort to mandate the addition of folic acid to corn tortillas, a staple food in many Latino households, to help prevent neural tube birth defects in infants. Folic acid fortification of wheat flour has long been standard in the U.S. and has significantly reduced birth defects, but corn tortillas—consumed at much higher rates in Latino communities—have not been required to include the vitamin. The initiative targets a documented health disparity, as Latino women have higher rates of babies born with spina bifida and anencephaly, conditions that folic acid supplementation can prevent. If adopted, the policy would require manufacturers to fortify corn tortillas sold in California with the same nutrient levels currently mandated for wheat products. The push reflects growing recognition that food fortification standards may need to account for different dietary patterns across populations.
What's Being Done
California is leading an effort to mandate folic acid fortification of corn tortillas at the same levels currently required for wheat products.
This article is part of a story we're tracking:
Should this be getting more attention?
You Might Have Missed
Related stories from different sources and perspectives
Politics$30 an hour by 2030: new pushes to increase minimum wage in New York and California
<p>Oakland and New York campaigns for $30 minimum wage gain steam as workers battle high costs and pushback</p><p>Mark Dorsey, a lifelong East Oakland resident, works two jobs to make ends meet. The 35-year-old Californian relies on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/manufacturing-sector+useconomy">manufacturing</a> and service work through temp agencies and tries to work overtime or 10- to 12-hour shifts because “that’s the only way you can see a paycheck that’s worth something”.</p><p>Dorsey often makes minimum wage or close to it. The city of Oakland’s minimum wage is currently <a href="https://www.oaklandca.gov/Government/Departments/Workplace-Employment-Standards/Download-Minimum-Wage-and-Hotel-Wage-Posters#:~:text=The%20minimum%20wage%20in%20Oakland%2C%20California%20will,English%20*%20Spanish%20*%20Chinese%20*%20Vietnamese">$17.34 an hour</a>, higher than the minimum wage for the state of California, currently <a href="https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/minimum_wage.htm">...
PoliticsExclusive: Obama urged Newsom on California's Prop 50 redistricting push
<iframe src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/ntoBDc7c-AeXnLRNE.html" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" allowfullscreen ></iframe><p>California Gov. Gavin Newsom called former President Barack Obama before launching his aggressive <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/san-francisco/2025/10/09/california-proposition-50-redistricting-congress-election-2025" target="_blank">Proposition 50</a> redistricting push, expecting a warning to play it safe. Instead, he was told to push ahead.</p><p><strong>State of play:</strong> Newsom said during an interview on "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc5F2y4laofG8BBeKLfc1h_wLFO0Gjx3M" target="_blank">The Axios Show</a>" that he went into the call "very nervous," not to secure Obama's endorsement but to get a gut check on a strategy he knew could divide Democrats.</p><hr><ul><li>He expected Obama — long associated with the party's "when they go low, we go high" ethos — to urge caution rather than provide the encouragement that helped c...
PoliticsCalifornia sheriff running for governor seizes more than a half million ballots from 2025 election - CNN
<a href="https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMif0FVX3lxTFBEMjByeGFrbmFwcTZyamYwcUMyRURkTWVZbURwVU96MEVsdDh5QzZ0TXExRnZTYnJNNm9ZX3dYMHNtaWFTdk9FUEU4bVZYMTg0cGxPVEVralJrOU1NcUhCaDd2MzNVSzRRWktZVjRwWEZqNEY3bGducE9sRGFSOW8?oc=5" target="_blank">California sheriff running for governor seizes more than a half million ballots from 2025 election</a> <font color="#6f6f6f">CNN</font><strong><a href="https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqNggKIjBDQklTSGpvSmMzUnZjbmt0TXpZd1NoRUtEd2o1bWJqZ0VCRzVXalFTRlpRbHVpZ0FQAQ?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en&oc=5" target="_blank">View Full Coverage on Google News</a></strong>
HealthAs demand for GLP-1 pills and shots surges, healthy habits are still key - AP News
<a href="https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilAFBVV95cUxQT0s3R0ljMy1ZNXdOQUxvdHBjWERVUTNUNFpPTEVtVWNmM0E3clN0TGpIWnFWRlFxWFB2elBleW5OU1VaU050UWJNbE1yc1M2R3QxcXBVbEhiMF8zbTVPazhESDZJMUE3V2dfMGRjYTZzNDlhdndLdnAyQU5JLV9BTjVPc0N1NGlFTHNNM29LVlpVdzU0?oc=5" target="_blank">As demand for GLP-1 pills and shots surges, healthy habits are still key</a> <font color="#6f6f6f">AP News</font>
9 sickened in E. coli outbreak tied to a California company’s raw milk and cheese - AP News
<a href="https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMioAFBVV95cUxPQk1qbER5eGUxZ3VmN3hwa2RHWGtONktMci13Vlp3NFVTWnhmekc5NjRUQ3drOG1pVDdJQjJlTFZjc21yeVRSdzhkaUY1NXd2V0h4N3hQbHNzSlV2elkwcWxTYnNFNXBIT2lXR2VISHl3Q3N4RzJlbzFOQVlmcS1Xb1pBOXU2UTZONlNFTWtva3c3RjR2VUhMZ0hFSUc3b3A2?oc=5" target="_blank">9 sickened in E. coli outbreak tied to a California company’s raw milk and cheese</a> <font color="#6f6f6f">AP News</font>
PoliticsCalifornia sheriff seizes 650,000 ballots in defiance of state officials over election count dispute - New York Post
<a href="https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqwFBVV95cUxPT0hQNGlIZXNOemtBMXJlOWRrMmtHZ3Z4bnEwc3MzY3lzdlZIRDY0Y2J0QkIzcWVrZS1YR2gwSXUyRkhHa0lENWFsRXpsS2E0STY2WkpadzFIMU1BVENUR2VKa1ktY2lnbWJDVjF1SUdRcFczUlJHSVFHa211ZVZ5MERhaVAyWkJFRmpVUlhvcEREV3I0SlBWYnBEOGdudk82bUJPSmtndU5BQU0?oc=5" target="_blank">California sheriff seizes 650,000 ballots in defiance of state officials over election count dispute</a> <font color="#6f6f6f">New York Post</font><strong><a href="https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqNggKIjBDQklTSGpvSmMzUnZjbmt0TXpZd1NoRUtEd2o1bWJqZ0VCR0NEXzBDYmFha2JTZ0FQAQ?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en&oc=5" target="_blank">View Full Coverage on Google News</a></strong>
US abortion rate holds steady largely due to travel and telehealth availability – report
<p>Shift seen away from from traveling to states with legal abortion in favor of telehealth and mail-order pills</p><p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/abortion">abortion</a> rate is holding steady in the US despite total and partial bans in some states – largely because of travel across state lines and a significant increase in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/telehealth">telehealth</a> appointments, a new report says.</p><p>US regulatory officials are weighing changes to the ways mifepristone, an abortion medication, may be dispensed, but they have reportedly pushed their review until after the midterm elections, given the widespread <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/fact-sheet/public-opinion-on-abortion/">support</a> for abortion across the US.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/29/abortion-rates-telehealth">Continue reading...</a>
Did this story change how you see things?
Stories like this only matter when people see them. Help us get verified journalism in front of more eyes.
The Verity Ledger curates verified investigative journalism from trusted sources only.
See our sourcesMost Read This Week
Fentanyl found inside Barbies sold at Missouri discount store, police say
Senate deal reached to cap insulin costs
'The gravest crime against humanity': What does the UN vote on slavery mean?
Pentagon will remove media offices after judge reinstates NYT's press credentials
Iran built a vast camera network to control dissent. Israel used it to track targets, AP sources say
