Our bodies can't produce iron, but it's naturally present in many foods, including meats (beef, pork, turkey), produce (raisins, spinach, prunes) and nuts (walnuts, cashews, peanuts). •    Fill the bag halfway full of water (warm water works well). Place it on a plate and hold a super strong magnet over it. You will see that some of the crumbled cereal is gearing upwards towards the magnet. Be patient. Will you be able to pick up your box of breakfast cereal just by magnetic force alone? “fortified” with extra iron and one that is not. Variation of Demonstration Fill a 1-L beaker about one-third full of crushed cereal. Background In fact, cereal products make up a whopping 45 per cent of our average daily iron intake. Iron is a mineral that our bodies need to survive and grow, although too much iron can be harmful. Breakfast Cereal.”, [Editor’s Note: Adapted from an article by Joe Francis, “Experiment—Iron: Toxin on the Table,” Answers, April–June 2013.]. •    Water. We have seen it attracted to and moved towards a magnet, but the iron remained embedded within the tiny particles of cereal. You can perform an experiment to see iron in your food.2 You will need an adult to help. Hope this helps. A variety of foods, including whole grains, contain iron 1. However, the "reduced iron" they add is in the form of IRON FILINGS! From National Science Education Standards: Properties of Earth materials. Are Zombie Bees Infiltrating Your Neighborhood. Record the mass in milligrams (mg) in a data table. •    Magnet Blend the cereal for at least one minute. Look for black fuzz Introduction The soggy cereal should be placed in the trash. •    Water (optional). Pour out the water and cereal mixture, being careful not to lose any magnets down the drain. Iron in My Cereal? But when you crush the cereal down, it helps to free up the iron particles, so they can be picked up by the magnet (dissolving the other parts of the cereal frees up the iron even more). Procedure What does your breakfast cereal have in common with Earth's crust? Iron in Cereal - Special K Original Cereal Iron in Special K Original Cereal - 45%, Cereal. particles of iron metal (called elemental iron or reduced iron) because elemental iron is stable in storage and does not affect the cereal’s flavor. Different iron compounds are used in different products and the particles may be different sizes, all of which affects how "biologically available" the stuff is. Iron is a mineral that our bodies need to survive and grow, although too much iron can be harmful. A large, sealable transparent food bag (a zip-lock style bag is ideal) 4. Leave a comment below or share your photos and feedback on Scientific American's Facebook page. That may seem like a good thing, if it wards off iron deficiency and anaemia. The range of actual iron was from 80 to 190 percent of the listed value 2. •    If you want to try to get more iron, carefully pour the cereal into the resealable plastic bag. Is the magnet picking up any black particles? There are no metallic iron pieces in the cereal. These are tiny shavings of iron. Iron helps the body produce red blood cells. Enjoy! •    Carefully seal the bag and gently swish the liquid around until the cereal powder has dissolved. of iron and do a comparison, visit www.sciencebuddies.org and search for “Mag-nificent Throw away any dry cereal powder and the iron particles. Are you age 13 or older? An iron-fortified breakfast cereal (make sure it’s light in colour so you can see the iron – we used a crisped rice cereal and a multigrain cereal) 2. Discover world-changing science. Up to this point, everything we’ve seen is good evidence that there is iron in the cereal, but we have not seen the actual iron. Let the cereal stand until it gets soggy. Iron, an essential mineral in your diet, helps carry oxygen from your lungs to various cells throughout your body. Iron in Cereal continued 2 21 linn Sientifi In ll its esere Disposal The water and milk may be rinsed down the drain. •    White piece of paper If hot cereal is more your style, you’ll wind up … that remains on the magnet. •    Plastic bowl or wide plastic cup Most breakfast cereals are enriched with iron. Most breakfast cereals are fortified with vitamins and minerals including the ever-popular iron. As you sit down with your breakfast cereal to get ready for school or work, check out the box. Have you ever read the ingredients list on a box of cereal and wondered why iron is in there? Nearly all people, irrespective of age and gender, start their day … • 2-3 flake-type cereals, one of which is fortified with 100% DV (Daily Value) of iron, the other one or two with lesser percentages of iron • Several magnets • Several plastic or paper bowls Sources of non-heme iron include: Iron-fortified infant cereals; Tofu; Beans and lentils; Dark green leafy vegetables How much iron were you able to extract from your cereal? Those are bits of iron! Internet Explorer is no longer supported. As it happens, there’s not a ton of oversight in the fortification process. 77 Fairly Safe Science Activities for Illustrating Bible Lessons, Bowl of cereal (such as General Mills Total cereal), Powerful magnet (cheap “super magnets” made of the metal neodymium), Joe Francis, “Experiment—Iron: Toxin on the Table,”. Pour at least one cup of cereal into a blender. Do you see a difference? It … (Iron sinks.) Even though iron only makes up less than 5 percent of the mass on Earth, it is found in a lot of places: rocks, cereal—and even in your blood! •    Scissors or sharp knife (to cut the cork) You will find enriched cereals that contain from 3.6 milligrams of iron in each serving up to 18 milligrams. Read on for observations, results and more resources. Sorta hard to digest a real HUNK of iron, now isn't it! It is important for good health. But science can help us find one of the most common elements on Earth in your cereal: iron. God designed our bodies to absorb and use iron in amazing ways! •    Pour out one serving of iron-fortified dry cereal into the bowl (or the mortar if you have one). Some cereals claim to be fortified, or infused, with vitamins and minerals that help your body repair and grow. Kids Mode hides stuff that’s just for parents and adds some fun. Iron-rich Breakfast Cereals. It might seem strange to compare a bowl of cornflakes to a pile of dirt. No, because it doesn't contain enough iron for the magnetism to overpower gravity pulling the weight of all that cereal down. Whole grains are more nutrient-dense than refined grains because they contain the entire grain – bran, germ and endosperm. Share your iron extraction observations and results! At about 6 months of age, an infant’s iron needs can be met through the introduction of iron-rich foods, iron-fortified cereals, or iron supplement drops. What are the nutritional ingredients in a … I dont know if you will find any cereals with 0 iron but I found a few that are lower. If you have ever seen rocks or dirt that have a red or orange tint to them, they most likely contain iron; iron tends to rust when it is exposed to oxygen, causing that rusty red color on old metal objects—or rocks! Compare your findings with the nutrition facts labels on the boxes. If you want to perform a careful experiment to measure the actual amounts (The more finely ground it is, •    Carefully pour the powder onto the white piece of paper in a thin layer. Babies need a certain amount of iron in their diet for proper development, red blood cell production, and brain health. Were you able to get more by dissolving the cereal powder in water? If you are not sure how much iron your cereal has, check the label to see. Stir the magnet through the cereal, especially at the bottom. It's also the most frequently used metal on the planet; it makes up most of steel, which is a mixture of iron and other ingredients. •    Try passing the magnet over the flakes. What is iron, and why is it in cereal? Iron also helps the liver to get rid of unwanted toxins from our bodies. •    Sheet of blank paper What happened when you ran the magnet over the whole cereal flakes? One of these minerals is iron. •    Run the magnet closely over the top of the cereal powder. •    Extra: try this activity with different types of cereals and see whether you collect more or less iron. What happened when you passed the magnet over the crushed cereal powder? Take a handful of iron fortified cereal in your hand and crush it well. You can get the iron your body needs by eating a healthy, well-balanced diet. Cover the cereal with hot water and let it soak for five minutes. Materials Even though iron only makes up less than 5 percent of the mass on Earth, it is found in a lot of places: rocks, cereal—and even in your … Now let’s see if we can separate the iron from the cereal using magnets. Observations and results Get with the program. The magnet is probably attracting the iron in the cereal. 1 One contained nearly 200 … Rare earth magnet (these are extremely strong magnets, usually made from neodymium) 3. The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Benjamin Wiker, ages 9–12, Up next… Breakfast cereals that have 25 percent of the daily value offer 4.5 milligrams of iron in a serving. Not only are the mg listed but there is a chart to figure percentage which is on the back of the nutrient chart of packages. •    How much iron did you get out of the cereal? You may have thought that the manufacturer added some extract from spinach or liver, but the actual ingredient may surprise you. This will turn off kids mode. © 2021 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc. Support our award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology. This type of iron is less easily absorbed by the body and will require careful planning to get enough iron for your baby. Fact Checked. Like many metals, iron is magnetic, so if you have a strong enough magnet, you will be able to pick it up. Now you can graph the Percent Daily Value of Iron (%) versus the Amount of Iron per Gram of Cereal (mg/g). What is iron, and why is it in cereal? Not something I’d personally panic over. "A Dash of Nutrition" from Scientific American the better.). Iron Cereal I am sure that you have seen breakfast cereals that claimed to be enriched with iron. I belive the compound is iron sulfate which is a … It is part of the reason that blood has a red color. Are they pulled up by the magnet? A rolling pin and clean surface Iron is a necessary mineral as it is […] If an infant is receiving only iron-fortified infant formula (during the time before complementary foods are given), then additional iron supplementation is not necessary. The first demonstration shows how a few flakes of cereal floating on water can be attracted by magnets and the second shows a quick way in which you can actually separate the iron from the food. Keep crushing it until it becomes a fine powder (the finer you can get it, the easier it will be to separate out the iron particles). •    Sewing needle I would suggest keeping count of your intake per day to make sure you are not going over your goal iron intake. But we are going to find a way to remove—or "extract"—the iron from that cereal and pick it up with a magnet. •    Crush the cereal with the back of a spoon, pestle or other firm kitchen utensil. (If you aren't collecting any, make sure your powder is fine enough and try running the magnet through it—otherwise, you might need a stronger magnet.) Gently rinse the magnet and wipe it on a paper towel. •    Resealable zip-top bag (optional) Iron also plays an important role in our bodies. "It's Elemental: Iron" element overview from the Jefferson Lab How nutritious is your cereal? •    Bowl and spoon (or mortar and pestle) Dr. Paul Whittaker and colleagues from the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in Washington, DC compared nutrition information from the labels of 26 ready-to-eat cereals and three hot cereals with the actual amounts of iron and folate the cereals contained, as determined by chemical analysis. •    Breakfast cereal that contains iron, such as fortified cornflakes (check the label to see how much iron each serving contains—the more the better!) One study measured the actual iron content of 29 breakfast cereals, and found that 21 contained 120 percent of the label value, and 8 contained 150 percent or more. •    Round cork from a bottle Impress young scientists with this simple experiment to extract the iron (yes, real iron filings) out of a fortified breakfast cereal such as Total! Iron helps blood transfer oxygen to different parts of the human body, which is used to provide muscles with energy. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners. Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at, "Recycling Could Replace Mining for U.S. Iron Supply", What's in Your Wiener? Optional: Try different kinds of cereal, including one that is heavily Like maybe it should say, "iron fortified and WE MEAN IT"? Non-heme iron can be found in plants and iron-fortified alert icon products. Why not? The body cannot use elemental iron, but the body’s stomach acid, How Can I Know the Iron Content in Cereals? •    Magnet (as strong as possible) Try this simple experiment and see for yourself! Aidan has been studying the nutrients our bodies need in his science book – Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology from Apologia. Iron helps our bodies perform several important tasks, so some food companies fortify certain foods with it. Results, which were published in the June 2001 issue of “Journal of the American College of Nutrition,” found that of 29 fortified cereal studied, 21 contained 120 percent or more of the stated iron amounts and eight contained 150 percent of the dose listed. Cleanup It is found in a part of our blood called hemoglobin, which helps our blood to carry oxygen molecules from our lungs to the rest of our bodies. Find Magnetic North with a Homemade Compass, What you'll need Have you ever read the ingredients list on a box of cereal and wondered why iron is in there? A cup of enriched oatmeal has almost 14 milligrams of iron or almost 80 percent of the daily value that is recommended. Periodic table of elements interactive table from Los Alamos National Laboratory As it is in Earth's rocks and soil, the iron in your breakfast cereal is attached to the other substances around it. Does a bowl of cereal really contain visible amounts of iron? No, because it doesn't contain enough iron for the magnetism to overpower gravity pulling the weight of all that cereal down. Sure that cereal box looks great, bu… 1. You cannot digest iron metal, well you could but the chlorine gas would kill you. More to explore A reddish mineral in the ground, iron is needed to make red blood cells, which carry oxygen to your body. Try downloading another browser like Chrome or Firefox. Add enough water to completely cover the cereal. Preparation Hot Dog Ingredients Explained, The Puzzle of Pancreatic Cancer: How Steve Jobs Did Not Beat the Odds—but Nobel Winner Ralph Steinman Did. Next you will need to divide the weight of the iron in milligrams by the weight of the cereal in grams so that your measurement of iron will be in MG of iron PER GRAM of cereal (mg/g). And it's so important for our bodies to have enough iron that some food makers put a dash of it in other food products—such as fortified breakfast cereal. Wheat – 3,6mg/100 (45%DV) It is one of the world’s most frequently eaten cereal grains. •    Gently insert the magnet into the bag (if your magnet has a handle, carefully move it around without spilling the liquid; if your magnet does not have a handle, you can drop it in the bag and reseal it). The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth by Joanna Cole, ages 4–8 "Recycling Could Replace Mining for U.S. Iron Supply" from Scientific American Check the nutrition facts label to see how much iron each serving actually contains (keep in mind that this tabletop project might not be able to get all of the iron out of the cereal). •    Examine the magnet's surface—were you able to collect more iron? Subscribers get more award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology. A diet lacking in iron can cause tiredness and can reduce the body’s resistance to diseases. (Of course it wouldn't be healthy to eat iron on its own, so stick to getting your daily dose via food and vitamins.). But yes, when a product says "iron fortified," that often means they put iron filings into it. They both have some of the same materials in them. Pour blended cereal onto a plate or glass bowl. 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