Research Article Estimation of Iron Content and Its Contribution in Iron-Fortified Food Products Consumed by School Children in Sri Lanka D. Ruwani G. Perera , 1 Dilantha Gunawardana , 1 Renuka Jayatissa , 2 and A. Buddhika G. Silva 2 1 Department of Botany, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda 10250, Sri Lanka 2 Department of Nutrition, Medical Research Institute, Colombo 08 (00800), Sri Lanka Correspondence should be addressed to A. Buddhika G. Silva; buddhika-gayani@mri.gov.lk Received 16 January 2020; Accepted 31 March 2020; Published 26 November 2020 Academic Editor: Marina Carcea Copyright © 2020 D. Ruwani G. Perera et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Iron fortification is an effective strategy that can be implemented to ensure supply and intake of iron for the public at large. Even though iron-fortified foods are widely available in the Sri Lankan market, the quantification of iron in those foods is not under the regulations of the food authorities in Sri Lanka. erefore, this study aims to quantify the concentration of iron in selected iron- fortified foods available in the local market and determine their contribution to the recommended daily allowances (RDA) per serving. e iron content in most popular powdered milk, biscuits, and breakfast cereals among the children of 15-16 years in Horana Divisional Secretariat was analyzed using atomic absorption spectroscopy, and its contribution to RDA was calculated. e average iron values of iron-fortified milk powder (IFMP), iron-fortified biscuit (IFB), and iron-fortified breakfast cereals (IFBC)werefoundtobe18.08 ± 9.53, 7.88 ± 0.07, and 17.78 ± 7.47 mg/100 g, respectively. e average estimated daily intake (EDI) per serving of IFMP, IFB, and IFBC was 3.61 ± 1.75, 2.13 ± 0.06, and 5.60 ± 1.45 mg, respectively. e highest contribution to the RDA can be obtained by a single serving of IFBC. Only less than half of the tested products have compatible iron levels with their labeled information. Iron-fortified foods which were studied have a high amount of iron, and they can make from 5% to 35% contribution to RDAs in young children, adolescents, and adults even by a single serving. 1. Introduction Fortification of food with micronutrients has been practiced for several years to restore the micronutrient loss during food processing and storage [1]. Iron fortification is a strategy implemented to ensure the proper supply and intake of iron among the general public [2, 3]. Food fortification means deliberately increasing the content of one or more essential nutrients in a food to improve the nutritional quality of food and to provide public health benefits [4, 5]. It is often regarded as the most cost-effective and long-term approach to reduce iron deficiency [6, 7]. Enrichment of food with iron has been greatly assessed over the last few years in several regions of the world. Iron fortification of infant formulas showed a correlation with fall in the prevalence of anaemia in children aged under 5 years in the United States. In Venezuela, wheat and maize flour have been fortified with iron since 1993. A comparison among the prevalence of iron deficiency and pre- and postintervention of anaemia showed a significant reduction in the prevalence of these conditions in children. Fortifi- cation of milk with iron in Chile caused a rapid reduction in the prevalence of iron deficiency in infants and children [2, 7]. Hallberg et al. [8] estimated that 25% of the total iron intake in Sweden and the United States comes from fortified iron. Likewise, iron fortification has caused a dramatic re- duction in iron deficiency throughout the world [9]. Under the free market condition and with the advances in food technology, many types of processed foods are enriched with iron, whether required or not, to claim the superiority of the product [1]. is can be a cause of toxi- cological impact on specific groups of the population due to Hindawi Journal of Food Quality Volume 2020, Article ID 6079379, 8 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/6079379