Bioavailability of microencapsulated ferrous sulfate in fluid cow's milk. Studies in human beings

Abstract

Iron deficiency anemia is the most prevalent nutritional deficiency in Argentina, particularly among infants under 2 years old. At this age the most efficient way to prevent it is through the daily intake of bioavailable iron in weaning foods. Fluid cow's milk is the most popular weaning food in our country. Nowadays, it is possible to fortify this kind of food with 15 mg of iron per liter by a new technological procedure in which ferrous sulfate is microencapsulated with phospholipids. Therefore we studied the absorption of this novel iron fortification compound called SFE-171(TM) by means of the classical double-isotopic method. This study was made in fifteen healthy adult men, none of them were anemic and all of them had normal iron stores. Iron absorption from SFE-171(TM) in milk was 9.2% when it was standardized to 40% absorption of the reference dose of ferrous ascorbate. We conclude that the iron from ferrous sulfate microencapsulated with phospholipids has a good bioavailability and it is an effective alternative for the fortification of fluid cow's milk without affecting its shelf life and its sensorial properties.