Estimate of the percentage of bioavailability and frequency of iron in the menu of a University Hospital restaurant/Estimativa da porcentagem de biodisponibilidade e frequencia de ferro nos cardapios do restaurante de um Hospital Universitario

The purpose of this study was to calculate the bioavailability of iron and evaluate the frequency of that mineral in the menus of the restaurant of a university hospital. An algorithm was used to calculate the percentage of iron bioavailability in four meals. Institutional meal no. 2 presented the highest frequency of iron, whereas no. 3 presented the lowest. The highest average of ingested iron was evidenced in meal no. 2, with 19.93 mg of iron; however, the largest bioavailability was found in menu no. 3, with 1.79 mg of iron. The amount of iron ingested and the bioavailable amount in these menus did not present significant difference (p > 0.05), however, their absolute bioavailability averages were influenced with larger intensity by the presence of ascorbic acid and animal tissues, and less so by fats. The meals presented intermediary bioavailability and the menus proved to be inadequate in their majority for pregnant women. It was possible to observe that it is not a matter of high frequency of iron that will result in higher ingestion and absorption, because it is all related to bioavailability in the meal.