WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The March of Dimes urged on the U.S. government to more than double the folic acid it requires in fortified grain foods to ward off birth defects.
The Tuesday call came in the wake of a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study and accompanying editorial in the journal Pediatrics. The editorial concluded grains fortified with the B vitamin resulted in a one-third reduction in infants' neural tube defects between 1995 and 2002.
Researchers called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to at least double the amount of required folic acid -- now 140 micrograms per 100 grams of grain -- and require addition of vitamin B12 to enriched grain foods.
The March of Dimes called for even greater folic acid content of 350 micrograms per 100 grams of grain.
March of Dimes President Jennifer Howse said the country has a rare opportunity to save thousands of babies from disabling or fatal birth defects.
"We should not settle for anything less than maximum prevention," Howse said.
