Magnetic Food: Metal bits in your Cereal

Some cereals have enough IRON elements in them to actually make them magnetic!!

In the videos below this will be illustrated:



In the video below, you'll see floating magnetic Bran Flakes, a free-standing magnetic Bran Flake demonstration, and finally, the actual magnetic iron material extracted from the cereal and shown under high magnification.



This sort of iron looks similar to the kind of black iron you would collect by passing a strong magnet through ordinary soil. After a bit of reseach, it turns out that this "reduced iron" will dissolve in your stomach's hydrochloric acid, at least to some degree. It can be then absorbed into your bloodstream for bodily processes, although not as efficiently as iron compounds such as ferrous fumarate, iron sulfate, "chelated" iron/amino acid compounds, or colloidal iron found naturally in plants/non-processed foods.

So why THIS type of iron in cereal? Well apparently, ionic types of iron such iron sulfate (usually seen in vitamin pills, etc.) can actually speed-up spoilage of food, where metallic (elemental) iron doesn't. It unnatural but at least the expiry date lasts longer... good for the company...

Other related reads:
Direct Reduced Iron (wikipedia)


[edit on 11/8/2010 by RizeorDie]

I'd like more people to read this, at least they'd know to not let their children eat it any more... regards

Shredded cereals are usually made from wheat. The wheat is cooked in boiling water to allow moisture to fully penetrate the grain. The cooked grain is cooled and allowed to temper. It is then rolled between two metal rollers. One roller is smooth and the other is grooved. A metal comb is positioned against the grooved roll with a tooth inside each groove. The cooked grain is shredded by the teeth of the comb and drops off the rollers in a continuous ribbon. It is the wear of this comb that puts the iron filings in to the wheat. A conveyor belt catches the ribbons from several pairs of rollers and piles them up in layers. The layers of shredded wheat are cut to the proper size, then baked to the desired color and dryness.
This was the only way iron was added to the wheat when i worked for the company that makes shredded wheat, apart from the odd nut and bolt that fell off the machinery and was missed by the metal detector

Geez, I remember taking a magnet to my cereal as a kid in the fifties. I can't recall what cereal was "best" in this category, but it had to have been something other than shredded wheat because I never ate that. I'm thinking Wheaties is one. I and my contemporaries seem to have survived this just fine.

it could just be the metal from the factor.
the bearings or the conveyer belt
or some thing eles that has wear.
and very small bits of metal is coming off it?
you should ask them!

I have never seen any mild or tempered steel materials used in food processing, only stainless steel..

I used to work at a place that makes sauces from various ingredients, mostly from tomatos.. and all of the food contact metals like conveyors and belts are all stainless, but at various places there are magnetic devices that are supposed to catch any foreign metal objects.. What it sounds like here though is that companies are substituting a far less healthy, but longer food preserving type of iron?

I wonder if all the brands are doing this or just a few?

Companies will always exploit a cost savings over using safer more expensive means it seems today, but not all companies do this. We need to make our own list of what NOT to buy since our own FDA does not seem to have the end user in mind in their regulating..

Important info, Thanks

[edit on 11-8-2010 by alienreality]

Originally posted by alienreality
I have never seen any mild or tempered steel materials used in food processing, only stainless steel..

I used to work at a place that makes sauces from various ingredients, mostly from tomatos.. and all of the food contact metals like conveyors and belts are all stainless, but at various places there are magnetic devices that are supposed to catch any foreign metal objects.. What it sounds like here though is that companies are substituting a far less healthy, but longer food preserving type of iron?

I wonder if all the brands are doing this or just a few?

Companies will always exploit a cost savings over using safer more expensive means it seems today, but not all companies do this. We need to make our own list of what NOT to buy since our own FDA does not seem to have the end user in mind in their regulating..

Important info, Thanks

[edit on 11-8-2010 by alienreality]

I can only say what happened when i worked for shredded wheat, the combs were made of soft iron so they would wear before the rollers would. its cheaper to replace worn combs than stainless steel rollers.

Wow what a surprise this one is. Two weeks ago I was microwaving a bratwurst and it had a few sparks pop outta it.

It is the wear of this comb that puts the iron filings in to the wheat. A conveyor belt catches the ribbons from several pairs of rollers and piles them up in layers. The layers of shredded wheat are cut to the proper size, then baked to the desired color and dryness. This was the only way iron was added to the wheat when i worked for the company that makes shredded wheat, apart from the odd nut and bolt that fell off the machinery and was missed by the metal detector

reply to post by remymartin


I just saw a show on tv that was researching the iron in cereal, and even Kellogs admitted they actually deliberately added the iron bits.

reply to post by RizeorDie

This is totally true.

My daughter when at high-school did this experiment with weet-bix...
...and drew iron particles from them.

It is not the right sort of iron for nutritional needs...
...but it does add to the weight...
...so you have to think that weight for weight iron filings are cheaper than wheat.