FONTANA, CA - DECEMBER 15, 2023: Food vendor Angelina Matias of Fontana forms homemade tortillas to make pupusas at her food stand off Sierra Avenue on December 15, 2023 in Fontana, California. Recently, she had all her food tossed and equipment confiscated by code enforcement. The city of Fontana just passed an ordinance contracting a third-party company for $600,000 to patrol and impound street vendors' equipment that lack the required permit.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
California – Starting January 1, 2026, every bag of corn masa flour and almost every packaged tortilla sold from San Diego to Sacramento will be getting a mandatory dose of folic acid—by law. Lawmakers say they’re slicing into a major public health problem that’s been stubbornly impervious to previous efforts: neural tube defects among newborns, which tragically impact Latino families far more often.
For years, experts watched birth defect numbers among Latino infants remain sky-high despite fortifying foods like bread and cereal. Now, with Assembly Bill 1830 officially signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 28, 2024, the state is targeting the heart of Latino cuisine: the beloved tortilla. Big manufacturers must pack corn masa flour with 0.7 milligrams of folic acid for every pound—while wet masa gets 0.4 milligrams per pound. The idea? Give pregnant women a massive folic acid boost in the foods they eat most and slash those devastating birth defects like spina bifida and anencephaly that haunt too many families.
And here’s the kicker: small local spots and mom-and-pop restaurants whipping up their own tortillas from scratch are off the hook. But for the big players, the clock is ticking. Miss the new rules, and face penalties!
The numbers behind this bold move are enough to grab headlines: Only 28% of Latina women reported taking folic acid before pregnancy between 2017 and 2019, compared to 46% of their white counterparts, says state health data. That gap led to more cases of serious birth defects in Latino babies—despite a nationwide grain fortification push back in 1998 that the CDC says cut those neural tube problems by a third overall.
Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, who championed the bill, tore into the historic lack of folic acid in corn masa products, calling it a major public health blind spot. Not everyone is convinced, though. Dora Sanz, who owns Sacramento’s 3 Hermanas restaurant, said she was floored by the change: “I grew up eating these tortillas and never had an issue—healthy kids all the way! Why mess with a good thing?”
Meanwhile, industry giants aren’t waiting around. Mission Foods’ parent company Gruma has been putting folic acid into their products for years, ever since the feds gave a thumbs-up in 2016. “We support fortification laws,” their spokesperson declared.
As January 2026 approaches, tortilla makers will have to toe the line—and consumers across California might never look at a taco the same way again. Keep an eye on the ingredient label, because this food fight is bound to get spicy!
