Are 'Iron Fortified' Breakfast Cereals Vegetarian ?

Mick Rice

I'm a runner who normally hangs around the Athletics/Running/Triathlon forums, and am also vegetarian. I train fairly hard and compete seriously and so my blood iron level is always a concern. I'm a fairly new 'convert' (2 years) and was taking an iron supplement for quite a while before I realised that it wasn't actually vegetarian (ferrograd c). I eventually found a vegetarian friendly supplement (ferrous fumerate I think), but that put me thinking about my other iron sources and cereals in particular. everywhere I look for list of good dietary sources of iron I see that the list includes 'fortified breakfast cereals' and I suppose my question is about whether the iron with which these cereals are fortified is vegetarian or not.

Any ideas ?

sweet-rasmus

hi, the general issue with the supplements was that the capsule itself was not vegetarian as it was most likely made from gelatin. most breakfast cereals are fine; there are very few that contain gelatin (some frosted or different coloured cereals). it's highly unlikely, but if you don't see gelatin on the list, it's probably fine.

entropi

The better cereals to use as fortified ones would be ones without added sugars etc, the likes of cornflakes, rice krispies, cheerios.

Although as a hurler and runner myself, I would recommend having weetabix if looking for complex carbohydrate with a decent amount of iron to boot.

Tar.Aldarion

They are vegetarian Mick.

Mick Rice

Thanks all - the guidance is much appreciated !

Tar.Aldarion

Happy to help with any questions etc

henryporter

You could try Spatone which is Vegetarian Society approved iron supplement - it comes in liquid form which you can drink with juice or water. It's pricey in Ireland though so best to get it direct from their website www.spatone.com (about £6 for 28 day box as opposed to €12 here)

Aoifums

Jesus! This gave me such a fright when I read it. But nope, I can happily tuck into my Coco Pops