WASHINGTON, DC, US — Without enrichment, baked foods produced with white flour would contribute only negligibly to Americans’ intake of numerous key nutrients, according to a paper just published by the Grain Foods Research Institute. 

The removal of enrichment, a cornerstone of nutrition in the United States for decades, would result in increases in nutrient inadequacy that would hit vulnerable groups the hardest, the GFRI study said.

The findings were published in “Modeling the Contribution of Enrichment and Fortification to B Vitamin and Iron Intake in the US Population,” written by Shelley Maniscalco, partner, Nutrition in Demand, and Chesney Richter, research consultant, Nutrition in Demand. The GFRI is an independent research affiliate of the Grain Foods Foundation.

The research was published amid criticism of food additives broadly and the elimination of enrichment in a major US bread brand.

Currently, enriched bread foods are significant contributors to key nutrient intake, the research found, including 19% of daily folate and 10% to 20% of other B vitamins, and iron (21%, thiamin; 15%, iron; 11%, niacin; and 9% riboflavin).

“Without enrichment, the contribution of these bread aisle foods would plummet to only 1 – 7% (7% of thiamin, 4% of iron, 4% of niacin, 2% of riboflavin and 1% of folate), leaving a significant gap in the American diet,” the study found.

The research was published at a time of micronutrient deficiency among Americans combined with the proliferation of nutrition misinformation, the researchers said. Citing findings of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, they said enriched grains are significant contributors of vitamins and minerals, including those under-consumed by vulnerable populations.

Against this backdrop, the GFRI turned to previously published scientific research to estimate the impact on nutrient adequacy if enriched flour were replaced by unenriched flour in products sold in the supermarket bread aisle, including bagels/English muffins, flatbread/pita, wheat flour tortillas, white rolls, and white bread).

Offering historical background for their research, the authors described the proliferation of nutrition-related diseases in the early 20th century before enrichment was introduced by bakers in the 1930s and became nearly universal in the 1940s.

“Before the enrichment of refined grain foods, deficiency diseases such as pellagra caused tens of thousands of US deaths annually and widespread hospitalization, with roughly 250,000 pellagra cases and 7,000 deaths each year in the early 20th century,” the researchers found. “Mortality data suggest pellagra was potentially the most severe nutrient deficiency disease in U.S. history. Additionally, pellagra often presented with severe neuropsychiatric symptoms and historical reviews estimate that up to 40% of patients experienced confusion, hallucinations or psychosis, leading to frequent institutionalization in state mental hospitals.”

Enrichment and the subsequent fortification of flour with folic acid have sharply reduced or nearly eliminated these once common diseases, the researchers said.

Folic acid fortification has prevented approximately 1,300 neural tube defect–affected births in the United States annually, generating direct medical cost savings of hundreds of millions of dollars per year, the study found.

“Even with folic acid added to the food supply, one-third of teen girls and one-quarter of women of child-bearing age still consume too little folate/folic acid, keeping NTD (neural-tube birth defect) risks elevated,” the researchers said.

The demonstrated benefits of enriched grains in the diet have been obscured because of how grains are categorized in many epidemiological studies, the researchers said. Research shows staple grains intake is associated with better health outcomes.

“Current public health dogma villainizes refined grains, including staple grain foods (e.g., breads, pasta, rice, tortillas),” the study said. “This is in part because many epidemiological studies introduce a bias against refined grain foods by grouping them with foods that are associated with unhealthy dietary patterns (e.g., sugar-sweetened beverages, fried foods, etc.). A review of 11 meta analyses of 24 cohort studies isolating refined grain foods showed no significant association between their intake and risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension or cancer.”

To gauge the effects of eliminating enrichment and fortification from refined grains, the researchers used the 2025 DGAC Scientific Report to estimate intake of baked foods, in combination with the Analysis Food Pattern Modeling (FPM) Report. US Department of Agriculture data were used to calculate the nutrient value of the products consumed.

Whole grains, not part of the enrichment program, were not included in the study.

“Enriched bread aisle foods deliver roughly one-fifth to one-quarter — or more — of daily needs for key B vitamins and iron, with percentages varying by sex. In men, these enriched grain foods account for 14% of riboflavin, 17% of niacin, 24% of folate, 27% of thiamin and 27% of iron recommendations,” the researchers found. “In women, these enriched grain foods contribute 12% of iron, 16% of riboflavin, 20% of niacin, 24% of folate and 30% of thiamin recommendations. If these foods were made with 100% unenriched flour, the percent contribution to recommendations would be substantially lower – only 2% of folate for men and women, 3% of riboflavin intake for men and women, 3% of iron for women and 8% of iron for men, 6% of niacin for men and 7% of niacin for women, and 9% of thiamin for men and women.”

In the discussion section of the paper, the researchers emphasized the positive contribution of enrichment to nutritional intake and the need for other researchers to distinguish between staple and indulgent grain foods.

B vitamins and iron, sourced from grain foods, are critical for red blood cell formation, cognitive health and metabolic function and yet are under-consumed in many cases, they said.

“Treating all refined grain foods as nutritionally equivalent obscures important differences in nutrient contribution and health impact,” the paper said. “Further, staple refined grain foods also hold significant cultural and heritage value. For instance, flour tortillas, pasta/noodles, pita bread and white rice are foundational to identity, family food traditions and everyday eating patterns across many communities. 

“Guidance that discourages or stigmatizes these foods risks undermining cultural relevance, dietary satisfaction, and healthy habit formation, and may reduce the practicality and acceptance of recommended eating patterns. Taken together, these findings indicate that enriched refined grain foods play a central role in supporting nutrient adequacy and culturally resonant eating patterns.”

Josh Sosland is president of Sosland Publishing Company, editor of Milling & Baking News and editor-in-chief of Food Business News. A member of the Sosland editorial staff since 1983, he covers flour milling, commercial baking, grain-based foods, and food industry business and economic trends. He graduated with an A.B. in economics from Harvard College in 1982.