# How is food fortified with iron? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 2, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-food-fortified-with-iron/587649 "2011-07-02T19:05:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-food-fortified-with-iron/587649/1 "2011-07-02T19:05:32Z")
I’ve heard that bread, in particular, is enriched in iron by mixing iron dust or powder into the dough or flour. A bit of a web search suggests that this may at one time have been true. Was it? Is it still the case? How is it done nowadays? What about other foods? ---
**Author:** ![TurboNuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@TurboNuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TurboNuke)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-food-fortified-with-iron/587649/2 "2011-07-02T19:24:44Z")
Mr. Wizard did this in the 80’s. He poured a large box of cereal in a mixing bowl with water and stirred it with a magnetic stirrer. After some time, the magnet was covered with iron filings. So as far as I know, the iron in food is actually iron. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-food-fortified-with-iron/587649/3 "2011-07-02T19:33:42Z")
> [@TurboNuke](#): > > Mr. Wizard did this in the 80’s. He poured a large box of cereal in a mixing bowl with water and stirred it with a magnetic stirrer. After some time, the magnet was covered with iron filings. So as far as I know, the iron in food is actually iron. I remember that, I’ve seen teachers do it as well. IIRC, they usually use Total cereal. Ever since then, I always just assumed that when food mentions iron, it’s actually the metal we’re all familiar with and when they say it’s fortified with iron that they’re actually adding iron filings to it. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-food-fortified-with-iron/587649/4 "2011-07-02T19:35:53Z")
The term I came across in trying to find a good answer for this was “iron powder,” so hopefully it’s ground a little finer than would qualify for the term “filings.” 🙂 This is the closest thing I found to an definitive “yes, we just pour iron in the food”: > [@](#): > > Because of its high bioavailability and low cost, FCC[sup]4[/sup] grade dried ferrous sulfate is often the best iron source. It can be used in bakery flour[sup]5[/sup], semolina[sup]6[/sup], and other types of low extraction[sup]7[/sup] wheat flours, which are normally used within one to two months after production.[sup]8[/sup] The ferrous sulfate should be a fine particle size, dried material. Large particle size or hydrated[sup]9[/sup] ferrous sulfate can cause color and spotting problems and so are not recommended. The superscripts all refer to footnotes in [the original PDF](http://www.fortaf.org/files/445IronFortification.pdf). ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-food-fortified-with-iron/587649/5 "2011-07-02T23:04:39Z")
Cecil has discussed this: [Do "iron fortified" cereals really contain iron filings? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/676/do-iron-fortified-cereals-really-contain-iron-filings). Just FYI. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-food-fortified-with-iron/587649/6 "2011-07-02T23:23:53Z")
Ferrous sulfate isn’t iron powder; it’s a compound containing iron. Just plain iron will be listed in the ingredients as “reduced iron”. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-food-fortified-with-iron/587649/7 "2011-07-04T07:08:20Z")
rust, Fe2O3, i remember one food product saying so.