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The amounts of haem iron, natural non-haem iron and the iron added to foods have been calculated for the average household diet and for larger families in Britain. The average intakes (Ipersonlday) were found to be 1.3 mg haem iron and 9.7 mg non-haem iron, of which 1.1 mg were from fortification; corresponding values in families with four or more children were 0.8 mg, 8.6 mg and 1.2 mg. These lead to estimates that the amount of iron absorbed may be n o higher than 0.8 mg on average and 0.6 mg/person/day in large families, or 6-7 per cent of the intake. Such values are less than those usually assumed.Int J Food Sci Nutr Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Auckland on 11/02/14For personal use only. 143Int J Food Sci Nutr Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Auckland on 11/02/14For personal use only.

A large survey by the Ministry ofAgriculture, Fisheries and Food of people aged 15 to 25 showed that the women, and especially the participants "on a diet" or "watching their weight," generally had iron intakes well below the recommended daily allowance. Reduced iron intake appeared to result from diets of reduced iron concentration as well as from energy restriction.Further research is needed to establish whether this population is compromised or whether the current recommended daily allowances are unnecessarily high.

The vitamin A activity of 246 samples of 59 different foods of animal origin was determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Wherever possible, the amounts of all-trans retinol, 13-cis-retinol, dehydroretinol, retinaldehyde and /I-carotene were measured. The relative activity of these components is discussed, and the results compared with previous estimates of the vitamin A content of these foods.