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Article: Doctors Say Vitamin Can Cut Birth Defects in Half // FDA May Require Folic Acid in Grains
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- July 28, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1993 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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BAR HARBOR, Maine Fortifying flour and other grains with the
vitamin folic acid could cut the rate of birth defects in half at
virtually no cost, researchers said Tuesday.
Many women are not getting enough of the vitamin to prevent
birth defects even with well-balanced diets, and fortifying the food
supply is the surest way of getting it to them, the researchers said.
"This is the most important medical finding of the latter part
of the 20th century," said Dr. Godfrey Oakley, director of the
birth-defects division at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta.
"It's like the Salk vaccine - it's that magnitude of
importance."
"It really works, and it's simple," ...