IN-VITRO ESTIMATION OF RELATIVE IRON AVAILABILITY IN BRAZILIAN MEALS PROCESSED IN GLASS AND IRON UTENSILS

In twelve different meals composed of food processed in glass and iron utensils having as the basic mixture rice and beans, the amount of to tal and dialyzed iron was determined by atomic absorption spectrophoto metry. The vitamin C and pH were determined by possible correlation wi th the dialyzed iron. The percents of dialyzed iron range from 1.64% t o 6.53% and from 1.90% to 23.78% for meals prepared in glass and iron utensils respectively, indicating that iron can be transferred from th e iron utensil to food.