Fortified wheat flour access rose worldwide from 2004 to 2007
What it found
The share of the world's wheat flour that was fortified with folic acid and iron rose from 18% in 2004 to 27% in 2007.
About 540 million more people could get fortified wheat flour, and about 14 million more babies a year were born to mothers who had it during pregnancy.
What they found
Fortification share grew
The worldwide percentage of wheat flour fortified with folic acid and iron went from 18% in 2004 to 27% in 2007.
More people reached
The estimated number of people with access to fortified wheat flour rose by about 540 million between 2004 and 2007.
More newborns covered
Each year, about 14 million more newborns had mothers who could get fortified wheat flour during pregnancy.
Most still missing out
About two thirds of the world population still does not have access to fortified wheat flour.
What the authors conclude
“Programs should continue to expand coverage of wheat-flour fortification as a strategy to increase folic acid and iron consumption.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say programs should continue to expand coverage of wheat-flour fortification as a strategy to increase folic acid and iron consumption.
How it was done
Folic acid taken before and in early pregnancy lowers the chance of neural tube defects, and iron helps with iron deficiency, the most common nutritional shortage in the world. Wheat flour is eaten more than any other cereal grain, so fortifying it can reach large numbers of people simply and cheaply.
The CDC looked at data from the Flour Fortification Initiative to compare 2004 with 2007. They checked how much wheat flour was fortified with folic acid and iron, how many people could get it, and how many newborns had mothers who could get it during pregnancy.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This is a count of how much fortified flour was available and who could get it, not a test of health outcomes in people.
- It cannot show whether the rise in fortification changed rates of neural tube defects or iron deficiency.
The paper
- Title
- Trends in wheat-flour fortification with folic acid and iron--worldwide, 2004 and 2007
- Type
- Study
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2008). Trends in wheat-flour fortification with folic acid and iron--worldwide, 2004 and 2007. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report.PubMed 18185494
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error