Zinc absorption from a micronutrient-fortified dried cow's milk used in the Chilean National Complementary Food Program

The objective was to compare the absorption of zinc from a micronutrient-fortified dried cow's milk, which is part of the Chilean National Complementary Food Program, with that from a standard nonfortified milk. Fortification included the addition of iron, zinc, copper, and ascorbic acid to provide total concentrations (in 100 g of powder) of 10, 5, 0.5, and 70 mg, respectively. Seven adults with normal plasma zinc concentrations (16.0 ± 0.9 μmol/L) were studied. Fractional absorption of zinc was determined from single test meals using a stable isotope-based methodology. Mean (± SD) fractional absorption of zinc of the test meal containing nonfortified milk was 0.29 ± 0.09 compared with 0.30 ± 0.09 of the test meal with the fortified milk (P = not significant). Absolute zinc absorptions from the test meals were 0.43 ± 0.14 vs 0.57 ± 0.16 mg, respectively (P = .02). Micronutrient fortification of dried cow's milk, including zinc, was associated with increased total zinc absorption.