Iron in Food: Effect of Continued Use of Iron Cookware

Two foods (applesauce and spaghetti sauce) were each cooked in an iron skillet 50 times and in a noniron untensil three times. Duplicate samples of the raw (three replications) and cooked foods were dried, ashed, and analyzed for moisture and iron content. Iron was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Iron in foods cooked in iron utensils was greater than that in foods cooked in noniron utensils through continued use of the iron utensils for 50 times.