Bioavailable iron density in a customary diet in S. Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract

A knowledge of the bioavailability of dietary iron is indispensable to the promotion of an iron fortification program. The quantification of that property was determined for three common meals, breakfast (bread, margarine, coffee with sugar), lunch (rice, beans, meat, coffee with sugar) and dinner (rice, beans, fried egg, coffee with sugar) served to 28 apparently healthy adults of both sexes. The bioavailable iron density (dFe B) found was: breakfast - dFe B = 0,23; lunch - dFe B = 0,73 and dinner - dFe B = 0,28. These results, insufficient to supply the iron required by women, suggest that fortification is not an effective strategy for control of iron deficiency anemia if applied to meals like those studied.