A new law legally mandating how corn tortillas can be made, despite a 12,000 year tradition of making them with just corn, water, and lime, just went into effect in California on January 1st, 2026.
AB 1830, sponsored by physician-turned-Fresno Assembly Member Joaquin Arambula, makes it mandatory to add 0.7 milligrams per pound of masa, which must be declared on nutrition labels.
The bill states that this government-enforced addition of the synthetic version of vitamin B9 onto the lifeblood of Mexican cuisine is to prevent birth defects among Latina women.
The bill's "Findings and Declarations" section includes statements asserting a "disproportionately higher risk" and "higher rate of NTDs [neural tube defects] in Latino communities," but these are presented without supporting evidence, numbers, or references. “The higher rate of (neural tube defects) in Latino communities is a symptom in the broader disease of health inequity,” the California bill reads.