Iron ‐ getting the balance right

Discusses the problems associated with an inadequate dietary supply of iron in relation to the prevention of anaemia. Describes results of recent work examining the free radical generation hypothesis to explain epidemiological observations that high iron intakes are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Further work is needed to derive the upper limits of dietary reference values. Attention is drawn to the difficulties in setting dietary reference values in the absence of information on bioavailability of whole diets.