Requirements Versus Cost - Small Controls

Iron content of food cooked in iron utensils

“…Bothwell et al (1964) also concluded that the degree of siderosis present in the Bantus could be explained by their high intake of iron alone. Moore (1965) reported a large difference in the calculated iron content compared to the analyzed iron content of food cooked in iron utensils of foods served to the military of several countries, in contrast to usually close agreement between these values in the United…”

“…States. The estimates of iron intake made from food composition tables ignore the contribution made from cooking utensils (Moore, 1965). Moore (1965) then investigated the effect of cooking in iron utensils.…”

“…They concluded that the increase was not nutritionally important. Moore (1965) has suggested that the gradual substitution of aluminum and stainless steel for iron in the manufacture of cooking utensils may have a most unfortunate effect on dietary iron intake. White (1968) conducted a survey to obtain information on the current use and changes in use of iron cookware.…”

“…The aqueous environment and heat during preparation are conducive to the formation of complexes between iron and some food constituents (Mertz, 1980). Several of the previous investigators tended to agree that the acidity and the cooking time affect the increase in iron content of foods when cooked in iron utensils (Mackay et al, 1945;Moore, 1965;White, 1969;Burroughs and Chan, 1972).…”

“…Also, age and condition of the iron utensils may affect increase in iron of food cooked in iron utensils (White, 1968;Burroughs and Chan, 1972). Moore (1965) and Mertz (1980) hypothesized that the decreasing use of iron cookware would have an adverse effect on dietary iron intake. White (1968) conducted a survey to obtain information on the current use and changes in use of iron utensils.…”