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Bioavailability of elemental iron powder in white wheat bread

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 58, pages 555–558 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: Iron fortification of wheat flour is widely used. In most cases, elemental iron powders are utilized as fortificants due to their lower cost and few, if any, sensory problems. However, their bioavailability is unknown. We aimed to measure the bioavailability of H2-reduced elemental iron powder in white wheat bread made from 72% extraction flour.

Design: A stable isotope of H2-reduced iron powder (mean particle size 15 μm) was used as fortificant in bread prepared from unfortified wheat flour. In all, 12 5- to 7-y-old children were fed bread with 4 mg of H2-reduced 58Fe /100 g of flour. The next day 57Fe ascorbate was given as reference dose. After 14 days, erythrocytes were analyzed for isotopic enrichment using mass spectrometry.

Results: When normalized to 40% absorption of the reference dose, the geometric mean (±range of 1 s.d.) bioavailability of reduced 58Fe in wheat bread rolls was 6.5% (3.7–11.8).

Conclusions: When compared to previous radioiron studies of ferrous sulfate showing 10% absorption from an identical meal in adult women, the relative bioavailability can be estimated at about 65%. However, the bioavailability of this smaller particle size 58Fe (15 μm) is likely to be higher than that of commercial iron powder (45 μm) although the precise difference cannot be ascertained with current methods. Thus, the bioavailability of commercial elemental iron powders currently used in fortification programs is likely to be substantially lower than that of ferrous sulfate.

Sponsorship: This work was funded in part by Grant No 910313 by Micronutrient Initiative, IDRC, Ottawa, Canada.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to Angélica Letelier for technical assistance. The authors do not have any conflict of interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Micronutrient Laboratory and Hematology Unit, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, INTA University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

    T Walter & F Pizarro

  2. USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    S A Abrams

  3. The Micronutrient Initiative, Ottawa, Canada

    E Boy

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  1. T Walter
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Contributions

Guarantor: T Walter.

Contributors: T Walter, who designed, executed and generally supervised the protocols. I took full responsibility for the writing of the manuscript, but all authors reviewed and edited the MS to their full satisfaction. F Pizarro did the iron status lab work and performed the stable isotope incorporation into the dough and supervised the children consuming the bread. SA Abrams performed the enrichment assays in the Mass spectrometer in Baylor, Houston TX. E Boy gave useful advice and directly participated in the initial preparation of the protocols.

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Correspondence to T Walter.

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Walter, T., Pizarro, F., Abrams, S. et al. Bioavailability of elemental iron powder in white wheat bread. Eur J Clin Nutr 58, 555–558 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601844

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