special insert Challenges to Increase Supply of Folic Acid- Enriched Tortillas By Abasto mproving the availability of folic acid-enriched foods is crucial to preventing neural tube defects, especially among babies born Industry to Hispanic women. To this end, Department of leaders also Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier d i s c u s s e d IBecerra recently hosted a roundtable discussion their challenges, with representatives of major U.S. corn masa 昀氀our particularly in educating manufacturers and distributors. the public about the health At the meeting, the group discussed strategies to bene昀椀ts of consuming these products. improve the commercial availability of corn masa 昀氀our Secretary Becerra stressed the importance products fortified with folic acid. of fortifying corn masa flour with folic acid to address critical nutritional needs. He expressed A HEALTH ISSUE his commitment to support consumer and supplier Since 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) education on this issue. has authorized, but only voluntarily, the addition of Support from the Department of Health folic acid to corn masa 昀氀our. However, a recent analysis HHS reported that it has undertaken several by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiatives to improve the health conditions of the (CDC) revealed that there has been no signi昀椀cant Hispanic community. 吀栀ese include reducing the cost improvement in blood folate levels among Hispanic of prescription drugs, providing Spanish-language women of reproductive age. services for crisis hotlines, launching a Spanish- The result of the analysis is concerning, language website for FindSupport.gov, and ensuring as Hispanic women are currently at the immediate availability of COVID-19 vaccines and the highest risk of having a baby test kits. a昀昀ected by a neural tube defect, In addition, HHS has developed the Food is Medicine HHS said initiative, which aims to provide consistent access to dietary and nutritional resources for communities THE CHALLENGES nationwide. During the roundtable, HHS has a strong history of collaborating with representatives from Bunge, the Food Latino community leaders to address health issues Industry Association (FMI), and eliminate health disparities. Kroger, the Latino Restaurant One example of these collaborative e昀昀orts is the Association, Ole Mexican roundtable discussion with representatives of major Foods, the Tortilla corn masa 昀氀our manufacturers and distributors. Industry Association, HHS said that by working together, they can and Walmart shared signi昀椀cantly increase the availability and accessibility updates on their e昀昀orts of folic acid-enriched corn masa 昀氀our products. to make forti昀椀ed corn masa 吀栀e ultimate goal is to improve the health conditions 昀氀our products of Hispanic women and their babies. more widely available. 1010 MMAAYY//JJUUNNE 20E 20224 - 4 - AABABASSTTOO..CCOMOM