Breakfast cereal vitamins

Vitamins occur naturally in many foods and raw materials. However the natural contents are often supplemented in many food products to ensure an adequate intake, for example in infant formulae, breakfast cereals and clinical nutrition products. Vitamins are usually added as nutrients and thus not covered in this chapter but may also be added as food colours (riboflavin, carotenes). The reader should refer to the following references for recent developments in... 

The common practice of adding iron to breakfast cereals or to vitamin supplements exemplifies the first. Here the first requirements are cosmetic, that the iron-containing compound added should not cause discoloration or adversely affect flavor. It is also an advantage for the added iron-containing compound to be sparingly water-soluble, but for the iron to be reasonably bioavailable and not be incompatible with other constituents (335). There is a great deal of inorganic and physical chemistry involved in these matters, most of which is buried in the technical and patent literature. 

Vitamins B6, B12, and folate An elevated plasma homocysteine level is associated with increased cardiovascular risk (see p. 263). Homocysteine, which is thought to be toxic to the vascular endothelium, is converted into harmless amino acids by the action of enzymes that require the B vitamins—folate, B6 (pyridoxine), and B12 (cobalamin). Ingesting foods rich in these vitamins can lower homocysteine levels and possibly decrease the risk of car diovascular disease. Folate and B6 are found in leafy green veg etables, whole grains, some fruits, and fortified breakfast cereals. B12 comes from animal food, for example, meat, fish, and eggs. 

The fat-soluble vitamins comprise vitamins A, D, E, and K, whose biological activities are attributed to a number of structurally related compounds known as vitamers. Also included are those carotenoids that are precursors of vitamin A. Recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) based on human epidemiological and experimental animal studies have been published in the United States for vitamins A, D, E, and K (1). Other countries and international bodies have compiled similar recommendations. In the United States and Canada, fluid milk is supplemented by law with vitamin D to a level of 400 international units per quart (10 /zg/0.95 L) to meet the RDA of 10 p%. Other commodities, such as margarine, milk products, ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, and dietetic foods, are commonly supplemented with vitamins A, D, and E. Except for infant formulas, vitamin K is not added to foods. The addition of vitamins to a particular processed food is intended to provide a specific proportion of the RDA. 

Schneiderman et al. (90) extracted retinyl palmitate from commercial breakfast cereals using supercritical C02 and determined the vitamin by means of reversed-phase HPLC and electrochemical detection. Chromatograms of an unfortified wheat sample and a fortified bran-based cereal product are shown in Fig. 10. 

Fig. 10 HPLC chromatograms of supercritical fluid extracts of (A) an unfortified wheat sample and (B) a vitamin A-fortified bran-based ready-to-eat breakfast cereal. Column, 5-/rm Altex C8 (octyl) (150 X 4.6-mm ID) mobile phase, acetonitrile/2-propanol/aqueous 25 mM sodium perchlorate (45 45 10), 2.0 ml/min amperometric detection (oxidative mode), glassy carbon electrode, +1.2 V, vs saturated calomel electrode. Peak (1) retinyl palmitate. (Reprinted from Ref. 90, Copyright 1997, with the kind permission of Elsevier Science-NL, Sara Burgerhartstraat 25, 1055 KV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.)...

Gregory (118) has determined vitamin Bg, using Saccharomyces uvarum. The method is used for the estimation of vitamin Bg in fortified breakfast cereals. 

A functional food is one that offers a benefit over and above its nutritional value. Our body needs an intake of six essential dietary components in order to sustain life and regenerate cells they are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. Many meals provide most or all of them. A functional food has to offer something extra and not just more of one of these essential components, and it must actively promote the health of those who consume it. Merely fortifying a food with calcium or vitamin C does not turn it into a functional food. Most breakfast cereals have added iron, and adding more iron in the form of iron powder to make Kellogg s Special K does not make this a functional breakfast cereal. 

How do you choose your breakfast foods Do you like convenience—do you choose a Pop-Tart kind of food Or do you want nutrition and therefore choose a breakfast cereal That s what I do, and I do it for three reasons carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, and protein. 

NAD% the oxidized form of NADH, is a biological oxidizing agent capable of oxidizing alcohols to carbonyl compounds (it forms NADH in the process). NAD is synthesized from the vitamin niacin, which can be obtained from soybeans among other dietary sources. Breakfast cereals are fortified with niacin to help people consume their recommended daily allowance of this B vitamin. 

Small amounts of thiamine and its phosphates are present in most plant and animal tissue, but more abundant sources are unrefined cereal grains, liver, heart, kidney, and lean cuts of pork. The enrichment of flour and derived food products, particularly breakfast cereals, has considerably increased the availability of this vitamin. 

Supplementation of Cereals. The next chapter of the story comes from experience in supplementing these breakfast cereal diets with other nutrients. Initially, the breakfast cereal was supplemented in a factorial fashion with protein, a vitamin mixture and several mineral mixtures. Only protein and a trace mineral group containing copper and zinc showed significant effects (6). Next, individual nutrients and pairs of nutrients were tried (7). 

Tetrahydrofolate (THF) The active form of the vitamin folic acid. THF is one of the major carriers of one-carbon units at various oxidation states for biosynthetic reactions. It is required for the synthesis of the nucleotide thymidylate (dTMP). Although bacteria can synthesize folic acid, eukaryotes must obtain folate from the diet. Dietary sources of folate include leafy green vegetables (e.g., spinach and turnip greens), citrus fruits, and legumes. Many breakfast cereals, breads, and other grain products are fortified with folate. 

At present, over 3000 tons of riboflavin are industrially produced each year. About 70% of this material is used as feed additive in the form of free-flowing, spray-dried granules or microgranules. The remaining 30% are required for the fortification of foods like breakfast cereals, pastas, sauces, processed cheese, fruit drinks, vitamin-enriched milk products, baby formulas, and clinical infusions. 

Eats a breakfast cereal fortified with vitamins identified through nutritional biochemistry. 

Nicotinamide is derived from nicotinic acid that is synthesized by human cells from the essential amino acid tryptophan. Our diet is also a rich source of nicotinamide, so the body has adapted to synthesizing much less than the daily requirements. Many commercial breakfast cereals and spreads are supplemented with nicotinamide that is usually termed niacin or vitamin B3 on their Nutrition Fact labels. 

Successful functional product innovations dealt with other food sources have been mainly launched targeting the markets for nonalcoholic beverages fortified with the vitamins or other functional ingredients, breakfast cereals, cholesterol-lowering spreads, confectionery, biscuits, cereal, cereal bars, soft drinks, probiotic and prebiotic dairy products. 

The minerals are nsed to fortify various types of products, especially bread and baked goods, breakfast cereals, dairy products, and vegetables. Moreover, they are often mixed with some vitamins and homogeneously distributed in the products. However, in some formulations, it is necessary to adopt measures to protect the micronutrients by some factors that may cause their loss or decrease of bioavailability, such as the use of microencapsulation technique. - ... 

The active forms of vitamin A that were associated with the defects are found in fortified breakfast cereals, liver, and some vitamin snpplements. Beta-carotene, a form of vitamin A that has not been linked to birth defects, is now nsed in many prenatal vitamin snpplements. Beta-carotene is a plant-based vitamin A source that is converted into an active form of vitamin A once ingested. 

Preformed vitamin A is found in liver products, fortified breakfast cereals, eggs and dairy products. 

Dietary sources vitamin-enriched breakfast cereals, liver, yeast, meat,... 

Vitamin B12 is found naturally in animal products such as fish, poultry, meat, eggs or dairy. It is also found in fortified breakfast cereals and enriched soy or rice milk. Most people have plenty of vitamin B12 in their diets. 

Although IDA can be caused by loss of blood or by poor absorption of iron, the most common cause is insufficient iron in the diet. Dietary iron comes from such sources as meat, eggs, leafy green vegetables, dried beans, and dried fruits. Some breakfast cereals, such as Total, are fortified with iron in the form of iron metal, also known as elemental or reduced iron. The absorption of dietary iron can be enhanced by the intake of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). When the diet fails to provide enough iron, a nutritional supplement may be necessary to prevent a deficiency. Many supplements provide iron in the form of a compound called rroits- sulfate. 

The majority of breakfast cereals in the United States are fortified with PN, and additional PN is also added to infant formula products to ensure adequate vitamin Be supply to the infant. Gregory (100) reported an isocratic HPLC method for the determination of PN in breakfast cereals (Table 5). Other investigators attempted simultaneous determination of PN and other vitamins used in food fortification. Wehling and Wetzel used ion pair HPLC to separate pyridoxine, riboflavin and thiamine from each other after acid extraction of the vitamins from cereals (101). Using a dual fluorescence detector setup, pyridoxine and riboflavin were monitored by the first detector. After the column eluate had passed the first detector, an alkaline ferricyanide solution was introduced, resulting in the formation of a fluorescent thiochrome derivative of thiamine, which was detected by the second fluorescence detector. A similar method for simultaneous determination of pyridoxine and riboflavin in infant formula products has also been described (102). 

JF Gregory. Comparison of HPLC and Saccharomyces uvarum methods for the determination of vitamin B-6 in fortified breakfast cereals. J Agric Food Chem 28 486-489, 1980. 

A common practice in some countries is the fortification of margarines by ergocalciferol or dehydrocholecalciferol, and milk and breakfast cereals are likewise often fortified. Ergocalciferol is the main form of vitamin D found in the fortified foods and pharmaceutical preparations. It is produced industrially by photoisomerisation of ergosterol. Some of the earher procedures of feed enrichment (e.g. yeast for feed purposes) by ergocalciferol were based on irradiation of materials rich in ergosterol. 

Vitamin Bj2 is used for the enrichment of some foods (such as breakfast cereals, soy products, energy bars and yeast extract spread) and which maybe the source of corrinoids for strict vegetarians and vegans. Along with other vitamins, vitamin Bjj is added to many multivitamin preparations and to food supplements. Cyanocobal-amin, which is used in most supplements, is readily converted into the coenzyme forms of cobalamin (methylcobalamin and 5 -deoxyadenosylcobalamin) in the human body. 

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