5 ms·

I don't know how other countries do it, but in Brazil, since 2002, all flour (wheat or corn) must be reinforced with iron and folic acid. https://memoria.ebc.c

I don't know how other countries do it, but in Brazil, since 2002, all flour (wheat or corn) must be reinforced with iron and folic acid. https://memoria.ebc.com.br/agenciabrasil/noticia/2002-12-25/anvisa-obriga-fabricantes-adicionar-ferro-e-acido-folico-farinha https://memoria.ebc.com.br/agenciabrasil/noticia/2002-12-25/...

PaulHoule 4y ago
I'd be worried about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_overload https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_overload I know some people who've gotten it. Last year I turned up with hemocrit just below the normal level on the scale and my doctor did some investigation and a bit of watchful waiting before I started supplementation (with the fear that supplementation could lead to too much iron.) My hemocrit is normal now but my ferritin is a little low. The Red Cross called the other day asking if I could donate and I told them I'd love to but I'm going to wait until my ferritin is up and do it when my doc says it is OK.
- aidenn0 4y ago
  Yeah, I just switched to a multivitamin with iron in it from one without because my iron has been dropping in my middle-years. I donate blood multiple times a year, or I probably wouldn't need it.
- Jaepa 4y ago
  I have hereditary hemochromatosis, as a result my body doesn't correctly metabolize iron. The above is legitimately kind of terrifying for me. I have to manage my iron intake and iron levels, as well as routinely draw blood/give blood in order to prevent going into Iron Overload. I got lucky and caught it early but Hemochromatosis is the most common genetic disorder among whites effecting roughly 1:300 people. Fortifying iron levels in food staples will likely cause severe damage to people who don't know they have the disorder.
dcchambers 4y ago
It's standard for western countries to add iron and other nutrients to white flour. It's referred to as "enriched flour" in ingredient lists and it's in basically all processed foods that contain wheat. That said, whole grain wheat is naturally high in iron, magnesium, folic acid, and other nutrients. If we would just use the whole grain (the bran, the germ, and the endosperm) rather than just the starchy endosperm, we would gain all of those nutrients without the need to enrich them. I bake a lot of sourdough bread, always with some percent of 100% extraction (non-sifted) stone-ground whole wheat flour. We all should be eating far more whole grains. Note: "whole wheat" products you see in the grocery store are often not produced by traditional 100% extraction whole grains. They often use roller mills to mill just the endosperm, and then add back in a certain portion of finely ground bran to give it color + flavor...but it's certainly not true whole grain.
- Arocalexi 4y ago
  I believe that whole wheat spoils much faster due to the addition of proteins, moisture and other things and is much less shelf stable than white flour.
  - giantg2 4y ago
    Isn't it still measured in months (after purchase)?
  - kwhitefoot 4y ago
    Addition? The whole point about whole wheat is that you neither take away nor add anything.
- user3939382 4y ago
  The never-ending word games with food packaging/marketing is frustrating (infuriating?). Sometimes it's manufacturers complying with the letter of packaging regulations while (IMHO in bad faith) violating them in spirit, some is with the food industry corrupting the regulations themselves. > stone-ground whole wheat flour This is just one in a sea of examples. A small % of consumers get wise to the fact that hyperprocessed flour that's industrially ground into a fine powder isn't as healthy as stone ground. Food industry responds by labeling bread "stone ground" that has none of the properties that make that make stone-ground bread superior: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoneground_flour https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoneground_flour > In the USA flour only has to 'pass between stones' once during its manufacture to be regarded as stoneground, and it has been claimed that a significant proportion of flour sold as stoneground in the USA has not been processed in this way, being ordinary roller-ground wholemeal. So not only is the food industry going to produce a bunch of poisonous/unhealthy crap for the sake of profits that's making our entire country sick, the small % of people who do some research and go out of their way to find needle-in-a-haystack healthier selections are going to be duped as well.

PaulHoule 4y ago

I'd be worried about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_overload https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_overload I know some people who've gotten it. Last year I turned up with hemocrit just below the normal level on the scale and my doctor did some investigation and a bit of watchful waiting before I started supplementation (with the fear that supplementation could lead to too much iron.) My hemocrit is normal now but my ferritin is a little low. The Red Cross called the other day asking if I could donate and I told them I'd love to but I'm going to wait until my ferritin is up and do it when my doc says it is OK.

aidenn0 4y ago
Yeah, I just switched to a multivitamin with iron in it from one without because my iron has been dropping in my middle-years. I donate blood multiple times a year, or I probably wouldn't need it.
Jaepa 4y ago
I have hereditary hemochromatosis, as a result my body doesn't correctly metabolize iron. The above is legitimately kind of terrifying for me. I have to manage my iron intake and iron levels, as well as routinely draw blood/give blood in order to prevent going into Iron Overload. I got lucky and caught it early but Hemochromatosis is the most common genetic disorder among whites effecting roughly 1:300 people. Fortifying iron levels in food staples will likely cause severe damage to people who don't know they have the disorder.

dcchambers 4y ago

It's standard for western countries to add iron and other nutrients to white flour. It's referred to as "enriched flour" in ingredient lists and it's in basically all processed foods that contain wheat. That said, whole grain wheat is naturally high in iron, magnesium, folic acid, and other nutrients. If we would just use the whole grain (the bran, the germ, and the endosperm) rather than just the starchy endosperm, we would gain all of those nutrients without the need to enrich them. I bake a lot of sourdough bread, always with some percent of 100% extraction (non-sifted) stone-ground whole wheat flour. We all should be eating far more whole grains. Note: "whole wheat" products you see in the grocery store are often not produced by traditional 100% extraction whole grains. They often use roller mills to mill just the endosperm, and then add back in a certain portion of finely ground bran to give it color + flavor...but it's certainly not true whole grain.

Arocalexi 4y ago
I believe that whole wheat spoils much faster due to the addition of proteins, moisture and other things and is much less shelf stable than white flour.
- giantg2 4y ago
  Isn't it still measured in months (after purchase)?
- kwhitefoot 4y ago
  Addition? The whole point about whole wheat is that you neither take away nor add anything.
user3939382 4y ago
The never-ending word games with food packaging/marketing is frustrating (infuriating?). Sometimes it's manufacturers complying with the letter of packaging regulations while (IMHO in bad faith) violating them in spirit, some is with the food industry corrupting the regulations themselves. > stone-ground whole wheat flour This is just one in a sea of examples. A small % of consumers get wise to the fact that hyperprocessed flour that's industrially ground into a fine powder isn't as healthy as stone ground. Food industry responds by labeling bread "stone ground" that has none of the properties that make that make stone-ground bread superior: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoneground_flour https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoneground_flour > In the USA flour only has to 'pass between stones' once during its manufacture to be regarded as stoneground, and it has been claimed that a significant proportion of flour sold as stoneground in the USA has not been processed in this way, being ordinary roller-ground wholemeal. So not only is the food industry going to produce a bunch of poisonous/unhealthy crap for the sake of profits that's making our entire country sick, the small % of people who do some research and go out of their way to find needle-in-a-haystack healthier selections are going to be duped as well.