Sensitivity analyses and meta-regression for hemoglobin suggested a higher response with lower trial quality ( suboptimal allocation concealment and blinding ) , use of condiments , and sodium iron edetate and a lower response when adults were included .
Consumption of iron-fortified foods results in an improvement in hemoglobin , serum ferritin , and iron nutriture and a reduced risk of remaining anemic and iron deficient
BACKGROUND The utility of iron fortification of food to improve iron deficiency , anemia , and biological outcomes is not proven unequivocally .
Dry cereals fortified with electrolytic iron or ferrous fumarate are equally effective in breast-fed infants.
Precooked , instant ( dry ) infant cereals in the US are fortified with electrolytic iron , a source of low reactivity and suspected low bioavailability . Iron from ferrous fumarate is presumed to be more available . In this study , we compared a dry infant rice cereal ( Cereal L ) fortified with electrolytic iron ( 54.5 mg iron/100 g cereal ) to a similar cereal ( Cereal M ) fortified with ferrous fumarate ( 52.2 mg Fe/100 g ) for efficacy in maintaining iron status and preventing iron deficiency ( ID ) in breast-fed infants .  Ascorbic acid was included in both cereals . In this prospect i ve , r and omized double-blind trial , exclusively breast-fed infants were enrolled at 1 mo and iron status was determined periodically . At 4 mo , 3 infants had ID anemia  and were excluded . Ninety-five infants were r and omized at 4 mo , and 69 ( 36 Cereal L , 33 Cereal M ) completed the intervention at 9 mo . From 4 to 9 mo , they consumed daily one of the study cereals . With each cereal , 2 infants had mild ID , a prevalence of 4.2 % , but no infant developed ID anemia . There were no differences in iron status between study groups . Iron intake from the study cereals was ( mean ± SD ) 1.21 ± 0.31 mg⋅kg(-1)⋅d(-1 ) from Cereal L and 1.07 ± 0.40 mg⋅kg(-1)⋅d(-1 ) from Cereal M. Eleven infants  had low birth iron endowment ( plasma ferritin < 55 μg/L at 2 mo ) and 54 % of these infants had ID with or without anemia by 4 mo . We conclude that electrolytic iron and ferrous fumarate were equally efficacious as fortificants of this infant cereal
Sensitivity analyses and meta-regression for hemoglobin suggested a higher response with lower trial quality ( suboptimal allocation concealment and blinding ) , use of condiments , and sodium iron edetate and a lower response when adults were included .
Consumption of iron-fortified foods results in an improvement in hemoglobin , serum ferritin , and iron nutriture and a reduced risk of remaining anemic and iron deficient
BACKGROUND The utility of iron fortification of food to improve iron deficiency , anemia , and biological outcomes is not proven unequivocally .