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Iron bioavailability: UK Food Standards Agency workshop report

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2007

Mamta Singh ,
Peter Sanderson ,
Richard F. Hurrell ,
Susan J. Fairweather-Tait ,
Catherine Geissler ,
Ann Prentice  and
John L. Beard
Mamta Singh*
Affiliation:
Food Standards Agency, Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NH, UK
Peter Sanderson
Affiliation:
Food Standards Agency, Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NH, UK
Richard F. Hurrell
Affiliation:
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, CH 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Susan J. Fairweather-Tait
Affiliation:
Institute of Food Research, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UA, UK
Catherine Geissler
Affiliation:
King's College London, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NN, UK
Ann Prentice
Affiliation:
MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Fulbourn Road, Cambridge, CB1 9NL, UK
John L. Beard
Affiliation:
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA16802, USA
*
*Corresponding author: Ms Mamta Singh, fax +44 20 7276 8906, email mamta.singh@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
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Abstract

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The UK Food Standards Agency convened a group of expert scientists to review current research investigating factors affecting iron status and the bioavailability of dietary iron. Results presented at the workshop show menstrual blood loss to be the major determinant of body iron stores in premenopausal women. In the presence of abundant and varied food supplies, the health consequences of lower iron bioavailability are unclear and require further investigation.

Keywords

Iron bioavailabilityFood Standards Agency workshops
Type
Workshop Report
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 96 , Issue 5 , November 2006 , pp. 985 - 990
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2006

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