Sodium iron EDTA [NaFe(III)EDTA] as a food fortificant: erythrocyte incorporation of iron and apparent absorption of zinc, copper, calcium, and magnesium from a complementary food based on wheat and soy in healthy infants.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Ferrous Compounds, published as a clinical trial.

The researchers aimed to compare iron bioavailability from a complementary food based on wheat and soy fortified with either NaFeEDTA or ferrous sulfate plus ascorbic acid.

The apparent absorption of zinc, copper, calcium, and magnesium was evaluated in parallel.

Stable-isotope techniques were used in a crossover design to evaluate erythrocyte incorporation of iron 14 d after administration of labeled test meals and the apparent absorption of zinc, copper, calcium, and magnesium on the basis of fecal monitoring in 11 infants.

Why It Was Studied

Phytic acid is a strong inhibitor of iron absorption from fortified foods.

In adults, this inhibitory effect can be overcome by adding ascorbic acid with the iron fortificant or by using a "protected" iron compound such as NaFeEDTA.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 11 infants taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as infants and young children, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a crossover and parallel-group study.

Each person switched between Ferrous Compounds and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.

The Ferrous Compounds group and the comparison group ran side by side rather than switching.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Biological Availability, Edetic Acid, Erythrocytes, Ferrous Compounds, Food, Fortified, Infant Food and Intestinal Absorption.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a crossover and parallel-group study of Ferrous Compounds in 11 infants.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Its findings take up roughly 5 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2005 (The American journal of clinical nutrition), a journal based in United States.

More context: all human trials.