Fortification of flour likely to halve neural tube defects, says CDC

Targets set by US health authorities to increase the folic acid intake among women have been exceeded. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found in its 1999 national health and nutrition examination survey that the average level of folic acid in the blood of US women of childbearing age almost tripled, from 6.3 ng/ml to 16.2 ng/ml (14.3 nmol/l to 36.7 nmol/l) in …