Uploaded May 2009 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
I recently saw a video:
youtube.com/watch?v=5ahlawrQHeA
where it was demostrated that some iron-enriched foods actually contain enough metallic elemental iron to be magnetic. I wanted to see more of this, so I did the experiment myself, and sure enough - even the cereal I had for breakfast that morning was magnetic!
In this video, you'll see floating magnetic Bran Flakes, a free-standing magnetic Bran Flake demonstration, and finally, the actual magnetic iron material bits extracted from the cereal and shown under 100x magnification.
This sort of iron looks similar to the kind of black iron you would collect by passing a strong magnet through ordinary soil. After a bit of reseach, it turns out that this metallic "reduced iron" will dissolve in your stomach's hydrochloric acid, at least to some degree, and can then be then absorbed into your bloodstream for bodily processes, although not as efficiently as iron compounds such as ferrous fumarate, iron sulfate, "chelated" iron/amino acid compounds, or colloidal iron found naturally in plants/non-processed foods.
So why THIS type of iron in cereal? Well apparently, ionic types of iron such iron sulfate (usually seen in vitamin pills, etc.) can actually speed-up spoilage of food, where metallic (elemental) iron is less likely to.
More interesting stuff:
A quote from an iron ore mine (manufactuerer) press release in Peru:
"Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) is a high-quality iron product created through the removal of oxygen (reduction) from iron oxide material, in solid state (without melting). Reduction is achieved when a reducing gas (typically hydrogen and carbon monoxide) is passed through the iron oxide feed material at a temperature between 900 degrees and 970 degrees C. Direct Reduction Iron is commonly used in an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) to produce steel, instead of, or in combination with, scrap iron."
Some more interesting reading on this subject:
patentstorm.us/patents/7407526/description.html
(reduced iron US patent)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_reduced_iron
(Wikipedia)
biz.yahoo.com/iw/081020/0444422.html
(Iron ore supplier in Peru, full press release)
The soundtrack is "A New Age" from the "Digital Dreaming" CD by Technician (yours truly), album and single track available on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/album/digital-dreaming/id416815761 full artist discography and CDs available at HTTP://technician.jcmdi.com
Bon appetit!
Note: This is copyrighted material, however, you may download this footage directly from YouTube and use it free of charge in your own non-profit/non-commercial YouTube videos. The full free usage policy, and copyright notice/claim and partner ad info can be found here:
jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#freeusage and
jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#partner
(please read both sections before using JCMDI material - Thanks!)
I recently saw a video:
youtube.com/watch?v=5ahlawrQHeA
where it was demostrated that some iron-enriched foods actually contain enough metallic elemental iron to be magnetic. I wanted to see more of this, so I did the experiment myself, and sure enough - even the cereal I had for breakfast that morning was magnetic!
In this video, you'll see floating magnetic Bran Flakes, a free-standing magnetic Bran Flake demonstration, and finally, the actual magnetic iron material bits extracted from the cereal and shown under 100x magnification.
This sort of iron looks similar to the kind of black iron you would collect by passing a strong magnet through ordinary soil. After a bit of reseach, it turns out that this metallic "reduced iron" will dissolve in your stomach's hydrochloric acid, at least to some degree, and can then be then absorbed into your bloodstream for bodily processes, although not as efficiently as iron compounds such as ferrous fumarate, iron sulfate, "chelated" iron/amino acid compounds, or colloidal iron found naturally in plants/non-processed foods.
So why THIS type of iron in cereal? Well apparently, ionic types of iron such iron sulfate (usually seen in vitamin pills, etc.) can actually speed-up spoilage of food, where metallic (elemental) iron is less likely to.
More interesting stuff:
A quote from an iron ore mine (manufactuerer) press release in Peru:
"Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) is a high-quality iron product created through the removal of oxygen (reduction) from iron oxide material, in solid state (without melting). Reduction is achieved when a reducing gas (typically hydrogen and carbon monoxide) is passed through the iron oxide feed material at a temperature between 900 degrees and 970 degrees C. Direct Reduction Iron is commonly used in an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) to produce steel, instead of, or in combination with, scrap iron."
Some more interesting reading on this subject:
patentstorm.us/patents/7407526/description.html
(reduced iron US patent)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_reduced_iron
(Wikipedia)
biz.yahoo.com/iw/081020/0444422.html
(Iron ore supplier in Peru, full press release)
The soundtrack is "A New Age" from the "Digital Dreaming" CD by Technician (yours truly), album and single track available on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/album/digital-dreaming/id416815761 full artist discography and CDs available at HTTP://technician.jcmdi.com
Bon appetit!
Note: This is copyrighted material, however, you may download this footage directly from YouTube and use it free of charge in your own non-profit/non-commercial YouTube videos. The full free usage policy, and copyright notice/claim and partner ad info can be found here:
jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#freeusage and
jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#partner
(please read both sections before using JCMDI material - Thanks!)
