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Iron pots were once used routinely for cooking in developing countries but have been largely replaced by cheaper, lighter aluminium pots. This study invstigates the iron content of food cooked in iron pots compared with clay or aluminium pots. In addition, the study investigates the effcts of consuming food cooked in iron pots and aluminium pots on Ethiopian children by measuring heamoglobin concentrations, weight and height after a year's trial.
Meat or vgetables cooked in iron pots had 5 times more available iron compared to food cooked in clay or aluminium pots. No difference was found in legumes.
After one year, the children in the iron pot group had greater increases in all three variables compared to children in the aluminium group. The difference in haemoglobin between the groups was 1.3g/dl, the average difference in height between the two groups was 0.6cm, and the difference in weight was 0.1kg.
The proportion of anaemic children in the iron group dropped from 57% to 13% and in the aluminium group from 55% to 39%. The authors of this study suggest that providing iron pots may be a way of reducing iron-deficiency anaemia in developing countries.
Effect of consumption of food in iron pots on iron status and growth of young children -
a randomised trial.
Lancet, 353 (1999)
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