Processed
USP Folic Acid
S tier
USP folic acid is the yellow crystalline vitamin that meets a pharmacopoeia monograph—the reference powder behind flour fortification calculations and many tablets. It is more stable than food folates, which is why governments chose it. The neat crystal is dosed in milligrams per tonne, not in kitchen teaspoons. It stains. It is light-shy. A good lot assays tightly and is not already half degraded to pterins. This is the specification to write when you mean the legal fortificant, not a "food folate" marketing blend.
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Characteristics
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Traits
History
Synthetic folic acid was isolated and soon monographed for medical and food use.
US flour fortification made USP-grade folic acid a public-health commodity.
Many other countries wrote folic acid (USP or equivalent) into staple-food rules.
USP folic acid remained the legal molecule even as 5-MTHF supplements grew beside it.