Background: Food fortification is the best long-term approach for reducing the incidence of iron deficiency.
Objective: To determine iron absorption from NaFeEDTA-fortified oat beverages without and with vitamin C.
Materials and methods: Iron absorption in 19 apparently healthy 6-year-old children was studied. Two oat beverages fortified with iron (labeled with stable isotopes of NaFeEDTA), zinc, and vitamin A, without and with vitamin C was consumed in two consecutive days in random order. Blood samples were taken 14 days later for stable isotope measurements.
Results: The mean fractional iron absorption from the fortified oat beverage without vitamin C (5.65 ± 0.54%) was significantly lower than that from the beverage with vitamin C (7.14 ± 0.90%; p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Fortified oat beverages may offer a convenient and effective mechanism to improve the iron status of children. The addition of vitamin C improved iron absorption by an additional 1.5%.