Folic Acid-Fortified Corn Products Target Hispanic Market

LOS ANGELES--GRUMA S.A. de C.V. is researching and conducting product testing to enrich its line of corn flour and tortillas with folic acid; imported corn flours are not required by law to be enriched with folic acid. GRUMA is working on the joint initiative with the Spina Bifida Association (SBA), the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and Wal-Mart Stores to target Hispanic women in the United States, who have up to twice the risk of delivering infants with neural tube defects (NTDs) than non-Hispanic whites. GRUMA is Wal-Mart's main supplier of corn products. According to SBA, the overall prevalence of spina bifida has decreased by 33 percent since the U.S. government mandated all U.S. grain include folic acid if it is labeled "enriched".