Effects of Processing on the Bioavailability and Chemistry of Iron Powders in a Liquid Milk‐Based Product

Abstract

ABSTRACTRelative Biological Value (RBV) was determined by hemoglobin repletion before and after processing of a canned milk‐based product which contained 25% U.S. RDA for iron from either ferric orthophosphate (FOP), electrolytic iron (EI), or carbonyl iron (CI). RBV's for the two elemental iron sources were significantly greater than the RBV for FOP regardless of processing. Processing increased significantly the RBV of EI and CI, whereas, the RBV of FOP remained unchanged. In the processed product containing elemental iron powders, 60% of the iron was in the ferrous state, while <0.1% of the iron from FOP was found as Fe++.