You need iron – but fortified foods are now being blamed for diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Let New Scientist guide you through the menu minefield
NEXT time you are in a supermarket, take a closer look at the bread you buy or your cereal packet – you might be surprised to see how many of these staples are fortified with iron. In fact, cereal products make up a whopping 45 per cent of our average daily iron intake.
That may seem like a good thing, if it wards off iron deficiency and anaemia. But evidence is emerging that decades of fortifying food with iron and regularly popping supplements could be leading people to ingest more iron than they need.
While the effects of this overload are still up for debate, some scientists believe that it could be damaging our health – and the prevalence of diseases like diabetes ...
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