You can do the same experiment with enriched flour. Some of the statements made in the videos were not
entirely accurate.
One video/site said something to the effect that only elemental iron can be influenced by a magnet. This is not true. There are many iron compounds that can be influenced by magnets, including but not limited to Magnetite [Fe
3O
4], which IS a natural magnet itself.
The videos would also have us believe that elemental iron is not absorbable/bioavailable
at all. This is not true. It's not as available as some other forms, but it's cheaper, and it is somewhat available. The same can be said of many of the supplements we discuss here (e.g.
B12). We try to buy/use methylcobalamin because it's better absorbed than cyanocobalamin, yet the cyano- is still what's used in most B-complex supplements.
Disclaimer: I'm not defending/condoning putting iron particles (even though they'd be chemically changed almost immediately in the stomach environment) into food. I don't know enough about it yet. But when I heard (at least) two statements in the videos I knew to be blatantly false/misleading, it gave me reason to suspect them and dig a little further.
After checking
Snopes.com and
Stats.org (neither of which had any results) I went to
Google and found this:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...n-iron-filings
Then I went to
Wiki (
as a starting point).
Quote:
Elemental iron, or reduced iron, despite being absorbed at only one third to two thirds the efficiency (relative to iron sulfate),[60] is often added to foods such as breakfast cereals or enriched wheat flour.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron#Health_and_diet
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But let's go to the sources:
Quote:
In this paper we have by using this method shown that
the evaluated elemental iron powders currently available
for commercial use are significantly less well absorbed
compared to FeSO4·H2O.
This method demands administration of an iron
dose that is much higher than what would be consumed
in a common fortified meal.Nevertheless, recent results
show that the induced serum iron increase following
100 mg Fe added to a food could predict the iron absorption
of a small dose of iron added to the same meal
[15].
http://www.springerlink.com/content/v08156584385412v/
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If, as kids, we'd seen
Mr. Wizard do this experiment, we'd likely have thought it was cool!
Doc