(a) (1) Commencing January 1, 2026, corn masa flour manufactured, sold, delivered, distributed, held, offered for sale, or used as an ingredient in the manufacture of a food product shall contain folic acid at a level of 0.7 milligrams of folic acid per pound of corn masa flour within an acceptable industry standard deviation of error.
(2) Commencing January 1, 2026, wet corn masa product manufactured, sold, delivered, distributed, held, offered for sale, or used as an ingredient in the manufacture of a food product may contain folic acid at a level of 0.4 milligrams of folic acid per pound of end product within an acceptable industry standard of deviation of error.
(b) Commencing January 1, 2026, corn masa flour or a wet corn masa product shall include both of the following:
(1) A declaration of folic acid on the nutrition label in accordance with applicable federal law, including, but not limited to, Section 101.9 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(2) A declaration that the product contains corn masa flour or was manufactured through a wet corn masa manufacturing process.
(c) (1) A person or entity may manufacture, sell, deliver, distribute, hold, offer for sale, or use as an ingredient in the manufacture of products corn masa flour that does not meet the requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), if they meet the definition of, or are suppliers to, any of the following:
(A) A cottage food operation as defined in Section 113758.
(B) A food facility as defined in Section 113789.
(C) A grocery store, as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 113948, that offers for retail sale corn masa flour that does not contain folic acid, so long as the grocery store also offers for retail sale corn masa flour that meets the required folic acid requirements in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).
(2) This section shall not apply to snack foods.
(d) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
(e) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Corn masa flour,” also commonly known as masa harina, means a dry flour-type product made from corn that has been treated with slaked lime or otherwise undergoes a process known as nixtamalization.
(2) “Wet corn masa product” means food manufactured by using an alkali solution with corn kernels to transform them into nixtamal. Wet corn masa product does not include products made with corn masa flour.
(Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 912, Sec. 2. (AB 1830) Effective January 1, 2025.)