She also dismissed the HPCSA experts’ contention that cereals fortified with iron are beneficial for infant weaning. She argued that the advice to make starchy foods the basis of a child’s main meals could, in fact, cause malnutrition. That’s because phytates (antioxidant compounds found in wholegrains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and that bind to certain dietary minerals) reduce the bioavailability of important nutrients, such as iron, zinc and the B vitamins. Zinn admitted that in the past she had ‘unthinkingly’ advised parents to feed infants cereals fortified with iron. ‘It never occurred to
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