KANSAS CITY — To many in the Latino and nutrition communities, the lack of fortification of corn masa products with folic acid has been a glaring omission requiring remedy for the last 26 years.

Josh Sosland, editor of Milling & Baking News.
Source: Sosland Publishing Co. 

Various avenues to right this perceived wrong have been pursued without success, most notably 2016 action by the Food and Drug Administration approving the voluntary fortification of corn masa products with folic acid. An approach that appears to be gaining traction more recently, a state mandate, represents perhaps the least desirable path toward this outcome for corn milling.

Demographically, the United States looks quite different today than in 1998, when the FDA mandated folic acid fortification. The mandate applied only to enriched wheat flour, rice and corn flour. Corn masa flour was excluded. At the time, Hispanics, who consume corn masa products more heavily than non-Hispanics, numbered 31 million, a figure expected to hit 69 million next year and 100 million by 2050. Per capita consumption of corn masa has climbed 28% since 1998, while wheat flour consumption per capita fell 7%.

While folic acid fortification of enriched grains generated a drop in the national incidence of neural tube birth defects, the Hispanic population has not fully benefited from this public health miracle. A review of data earlier this year showed spina bifida was 14% more common among Hispanic Americans than among white Americans. The rate of anencephaly, a fatal neural tube birth defect, was 34% higher among Hispanics. The discrepancy demonstrates the success of fortification of wheat flour and rice and underscores the need to fortify products made from corn masa.

For the flour milling industry, fortification of wheat flour has been a source of pride, and folic acid is seen as strengthening wheat flour’s position as a foundational food staple. There is no reason to believe corn masa producers would feel differently.

Advocates for masa fortification note that at 0.44 cents per cwt, the cost is minimal, less than half of 1% of the commercial price of masa. For tortillas, the cost as a percentage of the selling price would be even smaller.

Key to success would be making any mandate nearly universal, leaving producers on a level playing field, but the playing field for masa is complicated. While virtually all wheat-based foods begin with flour as an ingredient, the same is not the case with masa. Of 2.4 million tonnes of corn masa products consumed annually in the United States, only about half were formulated from masa flour, according to Food Fortification Initiative estimates. The other half was made from wet masa (never dried into flour) used by snack manufacturers and tortilla makers, large and small. So fortifying only masa flour would leave half of masa products without folic acid.

The FDA has given no indication it will mandate fortification of corn masa products, and most millers and snack manufacturers have not chosen to voluntarily fortify. In a recent letter urging the industry to fortify, Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services, cited data showing folate intake levels of Hispanic women of reproductive age had not improved since 2016.

Into this breach, the state of California in August passed A.B. 1830, requiring fortification of corn masa flour produced, sold or distributed in the state. Fortification of wet corn masa was left voluntary. While it will improve folate intake, the law as written fails the “level playing field” standard in two ways. First, the law only applies in California, disadvantaging masa makers who manufacture there. Second, the law has gaping exclusions, exempting the snack food industry, accounting for the lion’s share of products made from wet masa. Other states are considering similar legislation.

Pressure is mounting to either fortify corn masa products or to put warning labels on unfortified corn masa foods. The milling and snack industries would be wise to find better ways than California’s to ensure that the changes are adopted in a fair manner that elevates the industry’s stature.