Ferrous Bisglycinate is used in the fortification of infant formulations and foods.
Ferrous Bisglycinate is an iron-amio acid chelate. In this the iron is protected from the action of absorption inhibitors by being bound to the amino acid and glycine.
Ferrous bisglycinate is the major amino acid chelate produced commercially, although ferrous trisglycinate and ferric glycinate are also available. A patented ferrous bisglycinate compound, manufactured by Albion Laboratories, Utah, USA, has been used in most published studies. The chelate is reported to be formed by two glycine molecules combining with ferrous iron in a double heterocyclic ring structure. Evidence would suggest that iron is protected from inhibitors by the structure, since iron absorption is one to 3.5 times higher than from ferrous sulfate when added to bread rolls and milk products containing inhibitors such as phytate and calcium. Ferrous bisglycinate is more bioavailable than ferrous trisglycinate.
Amino acid chelates are recommended for milk and beverage products. Ferrous bisglycinate has Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status but is relatively expensive and readily promotes fat oxidation in cereal foods unless an anti-oxidant is added, and causes undesirable color reactions in some foods. Four non controlled efficacy studies with ferrous bisglycinate fortified foods have reported a marked decrease in the prevalence of anemia or iron deficiency anemia in children or adolescents. Three studies made in Brazil reported good efficacy in fortified liquid milk, sweetened bread rolls and a whey based beverage, and a fourth study in Saudi Arabia reported good efficacy in an iron fortified flavored milk drink. Recently, fer- rous bisglycinate fortified bread made from high extraction flour resulted in small but significant increases in both hemoglobin and serum ferritin when fed in a randomized controlled design to South African schoolchildren. A longer feeding period with higher iron concentrations would probably have given more impressive results. The influence of ferrous bisglycinate on stored flour was not investigated in this study. The main disadvantage of ferrous bisglycinate is its high cost. A recent cost analysis showed the cost of ferrous bisglycinate, taking bioavailability into account, to be 7–18 times that of ferrous sulfate.
Ferrous bisglycinate is well suited to the fortification of liquid whole milk and other dairy products where the use of ferrous sulfate causes rancidity off-flavours. However, ferrous bisglycinate can also cause rancidity by oxidizing fats in food, which can be a problem in cereal flours and weaning cereals unless an antioxidant is added as well. Furthermore, the bisglycinate is much more expensive than many other iron compounds.
