Controversy was kneaded in the recent edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition over whether to fortify flour with vitamin B12 to help people deficient in the supplement.
Take our true/false quiz about all things B12.
1. B12 is needed to help make DNA, the genetic material in all cells.
2. The food highest in B12 is fortified breakfast cereals.
3. Among the people said to be helped by B12 supplements are those with pernicious anemia and gastrointestinal disorders, as well as older adults and vegetarians.
4. Pregnant and lactating women need to refrain from B12.
5. Sixty percent of Americans older than 60 are B12-deficient.
6. Vegans are at greater risk of developing B12 deficiency than lacto-ovo vegetarians and non-vegetarians because natural food sources of B12 are mostly limited to foods that come from animals.
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ANSWERS: 1: true; 2: false (cooked mollusks have the most, at 84.1 micrograms per serving); 3: true; 4: false (B12 deficiency in infants can result in permanent neurologic damage); 5: false (6 percent are deficient); 6: true.
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Source: The National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.
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(c) 2009, The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.). Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.