Latinas Deserve the Same Healthy Pregnancies as Other Moms

September 8 marks the start of Folic Acid Awareness Week, an annual event to raise awareness about the importance of folic acid, a type of vitamin B that is especially crucial for people who are pregnant or may become pregnant. Folic acid plays a key role in preventing folate deficiency anemia in infants and can help to prevent serious birth defects in the brain and spine (neural tube defects), if taken before conception and during early pregnancy.  

But what you may not know is that there’s a current health equity gap in the food supply that inhibits certain families from getting enough folic acid to support a healthy pregnancy. According to the CDC, Latinas have lower levels of folate in their blood compared to non-Hispanic white and Black women. Latinas are also less likely to get folic acid from fortified foods or take a multivitamin containing folic acid. This disparity is furthered by limited access to preconception counseling and reproductive/prenatal health care, as well as cultural and language barriers.  

While folate is found in leafy greens and legumes and folic acid is routinely added to common staple foods like wheat flour and pasta, for foods made with corn masa or corn masa flour which is a staple in the Latino community, it is too often absent.  

Thanks to the 2016 approval of a petition UnidosUS and our partners filed with federal regulators, manufacturers of corn masa goods can now fortify their products voluntarily, but marketplace adoption of fortification has been too slow.  Even years later, most corn masa products remain unfortified, perpetuating a health equity gap in Latino communities and creating a preventable yet elevated risk for serious birth defects.  

Concerned for the healthy development of Latino children, UnidosUS has called upon the FDA to take bold strides in ensuring all families have support from the food supply they need for health.  

UnidosUS, alongside March of Dimes, Spina Bifida Association, MomsRising, Healthy Food America, First Focus on Children, SER National Inc., Balanced National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives, Esperanza United and Latino Justice PRLDEF, filed a Citizen Petition before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ask the agency to issue a requirement that products made with corn masa carry a warning label unless they are fortified with folic acid.  

We continue to see change as just this week, in honor of Folic Acid Awareness Week, Secretary Becerra of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent a letter to the industry’s largest producers of corn masa, calling on them to prioritize the fortification of corn masa products. 

“After years of efforts working to make this change happen for families, we cannot wait any longer. A clear statement to let shoppers know this vital information—when a food is missing folic acid—would enable more informed choices and incentivize companies to do the right thing, and could also profoundly impact countless lives,” said UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía. 

Folic Acid Awareness Week runs from September 8 to 14. Click here to read more about our past work on this important issue.