WHERE CAN I FIND FOLIC ACID?

The products listed below, among others, contain 400 micrograms of folic acid per serving, which is 100 percent of the recommended daily amount (RDA) of folic acid for a woman of childbearing age. Most other breakfast cereals contain 100 micrograms, one-quarter of the RDA per serving.

• Whole Grain Total, Total Corn Flakes, and Total Raisin Bran (General Mills Inc.)
• Product 19 (Kellogg's)
• Just Right with Crunchy Nuggets (Kellogg's)
• Smart Start (Kellogg's)
• Multi-Grain Cheerios Plus (General Mills Inc.)
• Most multivitamin tablets and folic acid supplements
• Prenatal vitamins (Some have 800 micrograms. Still must be taken prior to pregnancy)

Click here to view a sample nutrition label highlighting folic acid

The following is a list of sources of folate from foods to help you enhance your dietary choices. It is very important for a woman to eat a nutritionally healthy diet, including foods high in folate. There are so many factors affecting the bioavailability of naturally occurring food folates that we have not quantified food folate in the food items.

In addition, although it is conceivable, it has not been demonstrated that food folate protects against NTDs as well as synthetic folic acid.[1]

Carbohydrates
Enriched Cereals
Enriched Breads
Enriched Rice
Enriched Pastas

Juices
Orange Juice from concentrate
Pineapple Juice, canned

Fruits
Cantaloupe
Strawberries
Kiwis
Legumes:
Beans and Lentils, Canned or Dry

Meats
Eggs
Liver

Vegetables
Artichokes
Asparagus
Avocado
Collard Greens
Lettuce, romaine
Spinach, fresh or frozen

[1] Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes: Folate, Other B Vitamins, and Choline: Prepublication Copy. In: Dietary Reference Intakes for Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1998. Chapter 8, page 32.

 

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