Do you know of any cereals NOT fortified with iron?

[MumHadEnough]

My mum has just been diagnosed with a hereditary disorder that causes an iron overload. I have already started showing symptoms of it and expect to be diagnoses after my next load of bloods.

Approx 1 in 7 people are carriers of the gene (not sufferers, just carriers) so there's a good chance my son will have it too. He currently eats Weetabix with the odd bowl of coco pops here and there, which are both fortified with iron. "Just in case" he has it I'd like to change him over to something that doesn't have added iron. Does anyone know of such a cereal?

Thanks in advance.

Sorr yto hear about your mum, (and potentially son).

How about porridge?

going on breakfast remit rather than cereal there then!

Shredded Wheat (although it's Nestle so no good if you're boycotting)

Sainsburys do cardboard wheat thing too though.

Lol thanks for your help. Try not to buy anything Nestle if I can help it but the good thing (or bad depending on how you look at it) is that he doesn't like shredded wheat anyway. Unless its mixed with chocolate and syrup to make bird nest cakes!lol.

Cannot for the life of me get him to eat porridge, the loved it when he was a baby.

Well I suppose depending on how things go my boy may need to become a toast and eggs for breakfast boy whether he likes it or not.

Doesn't really affect me as i try not to eat carbs, not just because I'm on a diet, but because it alleviates a whole load of symptoms in me and have just discovered tonight that this disease (Haemochromatosis) can also cause a yeast overload, hence why decreasing the carbs may be decreasing a whole load of symptoms.

Sheeeeeeesh I shoulda been a doc! Thanks for your help ladies and any other suggestion are appreciated!

Shredded wheat, porridge, muesli, morrison's puffed wheat (i think)

You could assemble your own muesli from the basic ingredients (bought in bulk), so you know what's going into it. If he doesn't like muesli you may need to go for toast and eggs, but (offhand) isn't most commercial bread fortified too? So you may need to bake your own.

Thanks guys, wahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, yes I think most bread has added iron too!

Brose. My kids like that and make their own.

Could you give me the recipe MMB, might be something he'd be in to if he could make it himself?

Thanks

apricot wheats don't have any I don't think (its not on the nutrition list anyway)- they're Tesco own brand and v yummy. They also do blueberry and cranberry ones.

apricots contain iron though, although I have no idea how many apricots actually go into apricot wheats!

Brose: (ancient scots poor peoples' food)

Put the kettle on.
In a small bowl spoon in 3 spoons medium oatmeal. (NOT ROLLED OATS)

Make a well in the centre, add pinch salt, knob butter, generous screw of pepper.

Carefully pour boiling water into well, stir a bit, till oatmeal is just combined.

Add a little milk if liked or dip spoonfuls into cup of cold milk to eat.

Eat immediately, don't wait or it will congeal horribly.

Its a breakfast for a cold damp country!

Check out Tesco Value own brand weetabix. Don't think it's fortified with anything. (has to be the Value brand though)

Cool, thanks for that annoying devil!

And thanks to you too meltedmarsbars, I think he'd really enjoy that!

My dd is seeing a dietician as she has cancer and I was horrified/amazed that ORGANIC BABY FOOD is not legally allowed to have annything added to it eg, it cannot be fortified. So Heinz etc is going to have vitamins and iron but if you check organic packets carefully you will probably find that they don't have any added vitamins and minerals, and if they do it will written quite clearly on packaging because I think they have to declare it IYKWIM.

HTH.

Just to clarify, that means that when babies hit 6mo and start needed extra iron in their diet, mums who feed them organic stuff like me need to try to use a fortified cereal or some fortified foods, keep an eye on their kids colouring/tiredness levels in case they are low in iron. I'd never have thought of it unless dietician had pointed it out!

Thank you titferbrains thats really interesting! Also please accept my best wishes for your daughter xxx

Similar to annoyingdevil, think the Tesco value rice crispies (sold just in the bag, not in box) are not fortified with vits or iron either, was looking at packaging the other day. Haven't tasted though!

Your son will only have it if his dad has the gene . My husband was diagnosed with this a year ago , his ferritin was over 4000 ! . My son eats a lot of cereal that’s high in iron but the consultant said to carry on as normal . Check this article out -

www.haemochromatosis.org.uk/breakfast-cereals-and-their-iron-content