15-year Celebration: Fortifying with Folic

In just 15 years, adding folic acid to flour has become a life-altering business practice resulting in the prevention of more than 22,000 serious birth defects every year.

That’s 60 babies a day born worldwide without these birth defects because flour is fortified. The Flour Fortification Initiative (FFI) is celebrating the progress made in helping children get a healthy start in life and encouraging fortification to become standard milling practice globally.

“The success is obviously in the numbers of healthy children born as a result of flour fortification, but it is also the success of multiple partners working together,” said Scott Montgomery, FFI director.

“This achievement required flour millers to implement fortification, and it required the collaboration of international scientists, non-governmental organizations, individual country officials and premix suppliers. In highlighting this 15-year milestone, we are celebrating the contributions of many.”

In 1996, Oman Flour Mills began fortifying flour on a trial basis with enough folic acid to prevent birth defects like spina bifida. This is now mandatory milling practice in 54 countries and voluntary practice in approximately 20 other countries.

In addition to preventing birth defects, countries report significant cost savings by averting the healthcare expenditures required to treat children with spina bifida.