1945 - Nutrition

Nutrition

A fluoridation program at Grand Rapids, Mich., is the first attempt to fluoridate community water supplies to reduce the incidence of dental caries in children (see Dean, 1933; Cox, 1939). Newburgh, N.Y., follows suit, but the moves arouse widespread political opposition to government interference in people's lives; right-wing groups in some parts of the country mount ideological fear campaigns against fluoridation (see Britain, 1955).

Nutrition researchers find that the amino acid tryptophan, abundant in milk, is a provitamin that triggers production of niacin (vitamin B3) by the human liver. The discovery explains resistance to pellagra among infants who receive enough milk (see 1900; 1906; Elvehejm, 1936).

Alabama, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming enact bread-enrichment laws.