Determining iron bio-availability with a constant heme iron value

Iron deficiency is the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in the world. Consuming foods rich in dietary iron (high in both content and availability) is an effective way to alleviate iron deficiency. Iron from animal foods is more bio-available than iron from plant sources. This is due to the heme iron content in animal foods. According to the Monsen model, an average of 40% of total iron in meat, fish and poultry is in the heme form. Although the Monsen model can provide a generally good estimate of the heme iron content in animal products, recent research has suggested that the constant 40% value of heme iron is either an under- or over-estimation, depending on the source of the food. During this study a review was performed on the heme iron content of meat, fish and poultry, and comparisons are made with reference to the Monsen model. The aim of this study was to investigate whether using the constant 40% value for heme iron is adequate in describing the bio-availability of total iron in a particular food.