Does Oatmeal Always Have Folic Acid?

Vitamin B-9 -- known as folate in its organic form and folic acid in its synthetic form -- is a water-soluble nutrient that’s as important to normal growth and development as it is to nerve health and red blood cell function. While oats are a natural source of folate, only the enriched variety supplies folic acid.

Natural Oats

You’ll get about 14 micrograms of folate -- and no folic acid -- from a 1-cup serving of plain, unenriched oatmeal, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Because most adults are advised to get about 400 micrograms of folate a day, unenriched oats aren’t a significant source of the nutrient.

Enriched Oats

What Is Fortified Oatmeal?

Learn More

An average 1-cup serving of enriched oatmeal supplies about 90 micrograms of folic acid, according to the USDA. Because the synthetic vitamin is more readily absorbed than its natural counterpart, this amount of folic acid is actually equivalent to about 155 micrograms of folate -- and the total amount of folate provided by the serving is close to 170 micrograms.

Considerations

The amount of folate in unenriched oats isn’t affected by processing -- steel-cut, rolled and instant oatmeal all provide about the same amount 2. Enriched oats contain varying amounts of folic acid, however, depending on how they’re manufactured. Any food product enriched with folic acid will list the vitamin among the ingredients and tell you how much is in each serving.