quality:corruption
Fortification

After the discovery of the link between insufficient folic acid and neural tube defects, governments and health organizations worldwide made recommendations concerning folic acid supplementation for women intending to become pregnant. Because the neural tube closes in the first four weeks of gestation, often before many women even know they are pregnant, many countries in time decided to implement mandatory food fortification programs. A meta-analysis of global birth prevalence of spina bifida showed that when mandatory fortification was compared to countries with healthcare professionals advising women but no mandatory fortification program, there was a 30% reduction in live births with spina bifida, with some countries reported a greater than 50% reduction.