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Wednesday, Apr. 28, 2021

Does General Mills’ Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal contain a type of iron that is not digestible?

Marlo Lee, Lead Stories
no

The iron found in breakfast cereals is fine to consume and is digested by humans.

A social media post claimed that the iron in Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal "is not bioavailable iron." (Bioavailable is defined by cancer.gov as "the ability of a drug or other substance to be absorbed and used by the body.")

But a spokesman for General Mills, maker of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, told Lead Stories, "The iron in our cereals is bioavailable … The FDA approves the use of the iron that we use to fortify our cereals."

Iron, a key component in blood production, is listed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as an essential mineral. A 2011 article in Scientific American explained that while eating pure iron is not good for the body, we get it in digestible form in food and vitamins.

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