Estimated Intakes of Iron, Zinc and Selenium of Jordanians as Obtained from Data of Jordanian Household Expenditures and Income Survey

This paper evaluates the intakes of the trace elements: iron, zinc and selenium as obtained from food consumption calculations based on the most recent data of JHEIS, 2006. The estimated mineral intake was analyzed using a nutrition analysis software program (Food Processor SQL, 2008). The nutrient intake of these 3 trace elements for different governorates was calculated. The results showed that the means of daily per capita intake of iron, zinc and selenium were 21.2 mg, 9.3 mg and 154.4 μg, respectively. Chicken meat was the first animal food among the richest top 10 foods in iron; it provided small amount of iron (0.9 mg, 6% of total consumption). The rest food sources of iron were of plant origin, of which bread topped the list (8.3 mg) followed by molukhyia (Corchorus olitorius L.) (1.0 mg). Also results showed that bread provided 2.7 mg zinc (29% of total consumption). Similarly, bread was the first source of selenium (86.7 μg, 56% of consumption). There was a variation in the estimated intake of these nutrients among different governorates. It is obvious that bread is the leading food of the top ten food sources of iron, zinc and selenium; this might be due to the fact that wheat flour is fortified with vitamins and minerals, including iron and zinc. However, it should be noted that bioavailability of minerals such as iron and zinc from plant food sources is low.