The History of Iron Supplements: From Ayurveda to Ferritin

Iron supplements carry a warning label because of a long record of childhood poisonings, and a 1972 lab test changed how iron stores are measured. This is where each piece came from, and what the sources still leave open.

The iron tablet on the shelf is the end of an argument about three things: who gets poisoned by it, how anyone measures the iron a body is holding, and what the element does once it is inside. The tablet looks simple. Its history is not, and most of its answers are dated. Start with the surprise. In 1979 Gädeke published a review of acute iron poisoning in the German-language Klinische Pädiatrie. According to PubMed, the English abstract says the review documents "720 acute cases of poisoning with iron compounds as documented in literature between 1826 and the present time" ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/390235/)). The danger was on record two centuries ago, long before anyone printed a warning on a bottle. The sources are named in the text: PubMed records, the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements fact sheet on iron, the EFSA opinion on iron, the eCFR text of the U.S. labeling rule, and the historical texts and reference works cited below. ## Ayurveda: the first iron medicines in this record Ayurveda supplies the first iron medicines in this article. The Charaka Samhita has a chapter on pandu roga, a condition the chapter treats with several iron preparations. The online edition at carakasamhitaonline.com presents Chikitsa Sthana chapter 16 in English with Sanskrit transliteration ([Charaka Samhita online](https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Pandu_Chikitsa)). The chapter is titled Management of Pandu, which the online edition renders as anemia and diseases due to blood deficiency. The online edition does not date the text, so no date is given here. The first remedy is lauha bhasma, a calcined iron preparation. The chapter says physicians should give lauha bhasma "impregnated for seven nights with cow's urine along with milk for the alleviation of pandu roga." Two compound preparations follow. Navayasa churna combines nine parts lauha bhasma with sunthi, pippali, maricha, haritaki, bibhitaki, amalaki, musta, vidanga and chitraka, one part each, and the translation says that taken with honey and ghee it cures anemia, heart disease, kushtha (a skin disorder), arsha (hemorrhoids) and kamala (jaundice). Mandura vataka is made from jaggery, shunthi, mandura and tila, one part each, with two parts of pippali, shaped into pills, and the chapter describes it as suitable for patients with pandu roga. Punarnava mandura is a powder of daruharidra bark, haritaki, bibhitaka, amalaki, pippali, sunthi, maricha, vidanga and lauha bhasma, mixed with ghee and honey and taken as a linctus for pandu and kamala. Tapayadi lauha is also named, and a gaudo-arishta built on jaggery uses lauha bhasma for pandu roga. Mandura is the second iron material. Jadar and Jagadeesh describe mandura as "iron rust" in their abstract. The authors identify the raw material by the qualities the classics describe: unctuous, heavy, hard and black, with no hollow space. The authors heated the raw material in burning charcoal at 600 to 800 °C and dipped it in cow's urine, repeating the cycle seven times until the material broke. The abstract also notes that Acharya Chakradatta mentioned kshiramandura for parinamashoola, which the abstract glosses as peptic ulcer. According to PubMed, the authors fired the material in a gajaputa furnace at about 1000 °C, and they report about 68 percent ferric oxide in the product ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22557361/)). Modern labs have tested these preparations. According to PubMed, Ayurveda uses metals and minerals as bhasma, a fine powder made by calcination. Mulik and Jha, of the Department of Rasa Shastra at Banaras Hindu University, prepared a mandura bhasma following the Ayurvedic classics and checked it with several classical Rasa Shastra quality tests, including varitara, which tests whether the particles float on water. Another, rekhapurnatvam, asks whether the particles enter the furrows of the hand. Only bhasma that passed those tests went on to X-ray diffraction analysis. X-ray diffraction showed the raw mandura as Fe2SiO4 and the finished bhasma as Fe2O3 and SiO2. Electron microscopy showed agglomerates of 200 to 300 nm, against raw grains of 2 to 10 microns ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23284206/)). A 2018 study of a herbo-mineral preparation, Maha Yograja Guggulu, reported iron dioxide and magnetite by X-ray diffraction and linked them to its loha and mandura bhasma components ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1177/2156587217751761)). Toxicity has been tested in animals as well. Sarkar and colleagues, at the J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College in Kolkata, gave rats lauha bhasma and mandura bhasma at 55 mg per kg, five times the therapeutic effective dose, for 60 days, and reported no serious toxic effects. Both preparations also showed significant recovery from chronic toxic effects after a 45-day recovery period ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20329703/)). That is an animal study. It is not a guide to human doses, and the adult limit discussed later in this article is the reference point for supplements. ## Chinese and Japanese records Traditional Chinese medicine has its own iron material. The Bencao Gangmu, a materia medica by Li Shizhen, was completed in 1578 and first published in Nanjing in 1596, according to the Chinese Wikisource edition ([Wikisource](https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hans/%E6%9C%AC%E8%8D%89%E7%B6%B1%E7%9B%AE)). Its metals-and-stones section (金石之一) includes an entry titled tieluo (鐵落). The Japanese material in this record is modern research. In a rat model of iron-deficiency anemia, Akase and colleagues compared an iron preparation with Toki-shakuyaku-san, a Kampo formula, and with the two together. According to PubMed, the iron preparation alone produced gastric hemorrhage and pigmentation of the tail, side effects the authors did not see in the Kampo group. They concluded that the combination could lessen gastrointestinal adverse reactions ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1248/bpb.27.871)). In a 2022 randomized trial, Yagi and colleagues compared an iron supplement with and without Ninjin'yoeito, a Kampo formula, in women with gynecological disease and low hemoglobin before surgery. According to PubMed, hemoglobin rose by similar amounts in both groups. Fatigue and anxiety scores fell only in the Kampo group, and one patient in that group had liver dysfunction. The trial was open label, and 30 patients were analyzed out of 40 enrolled ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-022-01824-9)). ## Chlorosis and the first named iron pill in Europe In Europe the iron story runs through chlorosis. Guggenheim's 1995 review in the Journal of Nutrition, titled "Chlorosis: the rise and disappearance of a nutritional disease," describes the condition as first recorded in the 16th century, affecting adolescent girls and young women. It says the 17th-century physician Thomas Sydenham recommended iron for it ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/125.7.1822)). According to PubMed, the same review reports that recorded incidence rose in the late 19th century, that Stockman proposed in 1895 that chlorosis was a nutritional iron deficiency, and that the disease stopped being reported in the 1930s, after the First World War ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/125.7.1822)). A named iron pill appears in 1832. Pierre-Jean-Pierre Blaud (1774 to 1859) published a preliminary report on chlorotic diseases and a specific mode of treatment for them, in the Bulletin général de thérapeutique. For chlorosis he prescribed a pill of iron sulphate and potassium carbonate ([historyofmedicine.com](https://historyofmedicine.com/author/d/pierre-jeanpierre-blaud)). It is an early, documented example of a named iron salt prescribed for a named condition. ## The forms on the label A supplement label rarely names the element on its own. It names a salt or a complex, and the number beside the name is usually the weight of that compound. NIH gives the elemental iron content by weight for three common salts: ferrous fumarate is 33 percent elemental iron, ferrous sulfate is 20 percent, and ferrous gluconate is 12 percent ([NIH ODS](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/)). A salt listed at a given weight can therefore carry much less elemental iron, which is why the elemental figure is the number to read. NIH also notes that iron-only supplements often provide 65 mg of iron per serving, which is 360 percent of the Daily Value, and that women's multivitamin and mineral products typically provide 18 mg ([NIH ODS](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/)). Those are label facts, not recommendations. In pediatric prescribing, ferrous sulfate is the most used and cheapest oral iron product, according to a 2026 narrative review in Hematology Reports. According to PubMed, that review describes carbonyl iron as having "excellent bioavailability" and a high safety margin in accidental overdose ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.3390/hematolrep18020020)). The review is written for pediatric prescribing, so its ranking should not be read as advice for adults. NIH also says that carbonyl iron, iron amino-acid chelates and polysaccharide-iron complexes "might have fewer gastrointestinal side effects" than other forms ([NIH ODS](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/)). That is a statement about tolerance, not about how well each form works. A 2025 case comes from Japan. Sugimori and colleagues reported a mother and daughter who developed secondary iron overload while taking an amino acid chelated iron supplement. According to PubMed, the report describes raised ferritin and transferrin saturation, and about two years of phlebotomy, which is blood removal ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.77251)). It is a case report about two people, and it does not measure the risk of the form as a whole. ## Blood pigment and the name hemoglobin Most of the iron in an adult body sits in hemoglobin, the pigment in red blood cells. NIH puts the total at roughly 3 to 4 grams, most of it in hemoglobin, with the remainder stored mainly as ferritin and hemosiderin ([NIH ODS](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/)). NIH describes iron as essential to hemoglobin, which is why the pigment matters to every discussion of iron supplements. The chemistry came in stages. Edsall's 1972 history of hemoglobin in the Journal of the History of Biology cites a paper by F. Hoppe in Virchows Archiv in 1862, on the blood pigment's behavior in the spectrum of sunlight. It credits Felix Hoppe-Seyler, who lived from 1825 to 1895, with proposing the name hemoglobin in 1864, and says the name was soon universally adopted ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346659)). A later step concerns iron itself. Edsall's footnotes cite Zinoffsky's 1886 paper on the size of the hemoglobin molecule. Edsall notes that Zinoffsky's values for iron and sulfur were more accurate than his carbon and hydrogen figures ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346659)). Hemoglobin is also a weak test for iron stores. NIH says that hemoglobin and hematocrit are "neither sensitive nor specific" for iron deficiency, which helps explain why clinicians turned to ferritin. ## Poisoning, labels and the law The labeling rules follow from a long poisoning record. Gädeke's review, cited above, drew on the published case literature. Krenzelok and Hoff's 1979 paper in Pediatrics treated accidental childhood iron poisoning as a problem of marketing and labeling. According to PubMed, the children were mostly under five, and manufacturers did not say whether a number referred to total elemental iron or to the compound ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/440869/)). The regulation's age line is children under 6, which is slightly wider than the under-five group in the 1979 Krenzelok and Hoff abstract. The U.S. record is in NIH's figures. At least 43 American children died from high-dose iron supplements between 1983 and 2000, and accidental ingestion accounted for about one-third of poisoning deaths among children from 1983 to 1991. NIH also notes that acute intakes above 20 mg per kilogram of body weight can cause corrosive injury to the intestine, and that severe cases can lead to failure of several organ systems ([NIH ODS](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/)). Those are poisoning thresholds, not dosing guidance. The packaging rules followed. In 1978 the Consumer Product Safety Commission required child-resistant packaging for dietary supplements with 250 mg or more of elemental iron per container. In 1997 the FDA required supplements with more than 30 mg of elemental iron per dose to be sold in single-dose packaging with strong warnings, and many manufacturers replaced sugar coatings with film coatings. The FDA removed the single-dose requirement in 2003 after a court decision ([NIH ODS](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/)). The warning text is set by federal regulation. Under 21 CFR 101.17(e), the label of a solid oral dietary supplement that contains iron must carry this statement: "WARNING: Accidental overdose of iron-containing products is a leading cause of fatal poisoning in children under 6. Keep this product out of reach of children. In case of accidental overdose, call a doctor or poison control center immediately." The regulation also requires the statement to be set off in a box by hairlines ([eCFR](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-101/subpart-A/section-101.17)). ## The ferritin test changes how iron is measured Hemoglobin describes red cells. It does not describe stored iron, and ferritin does. According to PubMed, Addison and colleagues described an immunoradiometric assay for serum ferritin in 1972. Iron-deficient patients had lower ferritin than normal subjects, iron overload raised it greatly, and the authors wrote that "serum ferritin concentration may reflect the iron stores of the body" ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1136/jcp.25.4.326)). The protein itself is older than the test. A 2025 review in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences says ferritin was first identified and purified through crystallization in 1937. It describes serum ferritin as an indicator of both iron stores and inflammatory conditions ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26010206)). Jacobs and Worwood's 1975 review in the New England Journal of Medicine, "Ferritin in serum: clinical and biochemical implications," set out the basis of the serum measurement ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM197505012921805)). NIH now calls serum ferritin "currently the most efficient and cost-effective test for diagnosing iron deficiency." It treats a level below 30 mcg per liter as suggesting iron deficiency, and a level below 10 mcg per liter as suggesting iron deficiency anemia. It also notes that inflammation can raise ferritin ([NIH ODS](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/)). The inflammation effect has been measured. According to PubMed, Thurnham and colleagues pooled data and estimated that subclinical inflammation raised plasma ferritin by about 30 percent, and that the uncorrected test underestimated iron deficiency by about 14 percent ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2010.29284)). A ferritin number is a measure of stores with an inflammation caveat. The measure that makes stores visible can also mislead when inflammation is present. ## Intake values in the U.S., the EU and the UK The U.S. sets a tolerable upper intake level of 45 mg a day for adults, and 40 mg a day for children under 14. NIH also says there is very little risk of iron overload from dietary sources in people with normal intestinal function. Its recommended intakes are 8 mg a day for adult men, 18 mg a day for women aged 19 to 50, and 8 mg a day for women aged 51 and older ([NIH ODS](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/)). Europe takes a different route. The 2015 EFSA opinion sets average requirements and population reference intakes. For men the average requirement is 6 mg a day and the reference intake is 11 mg a day. For premenopausal women the figures are 7 mg and 16 mg. EFSA states that health outcomes cannot be used to derive reference intakes for iron. It also says the risk of systemic iron overload from dietary sources is negligible with normal intestinal function, and that chronic overload can occur with some clinical conditions and genetic mutations ([EFSA](https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/4254)). The EFSA and NIH figures are built on different methods, so the numbers are not directly comparable. The UK position comes from SACN. Its report on iron and health, published by Public Health England on 25 February 2011, says most people in the UK are iron replete. It advises health professionals to watch for iron deficiency anaemia, and it recommends clinical assessment and dietary advice for people with symptoms, with iron supplements considered where needed. The report puts a varied diet first ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-iron-and-health-report)). WHO's position, as NIH summarizes it, is that about half of the 1.62 billion anemia cases worldwide are due to iron deficiency. The U.S. and Canada, among others, fortify wheat flour with iron ([NIH ODS](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/)). ## National positions, with dates and numbers **Germany.** The German Nutrition Society (DGE) gives its iron reference values a derivation date of 2023. Its page shows 11 mg a day for men at every adult age, 16 mg a day for premenopausal women aged 19 to 50, and 14 mg a day for women after menopause ([DGE](https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/referenzwerte/eisen/)). The reference-value binder has been in its third edition since September 2025. Adolescents and women who do not menstruate are assigned the men's figure of 11 mg. The DGE page describes iron as an essential trace element that the body cannot make for itself, so it must be taken in regularly through food. It also says that the body uses iron from animal foods better than iron from plant foods, that phytates in whole grains and legumes and polyphenols in coffee and strong black tea inhibit absorption, and that vitamin C from citrus fruit and peppers improves it. It lists meat, sausages, whole grains, vegetables and legumes as the main sources of iron intake, and it notes that persistently low intake leads to anemia ([DGE](https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/referenzwerte/eisen/)). **Canada.** Health Canada's dietary reference intake table for elements is dated 2005 in the page metadata. It lists a recommended intake of 8 mg a day for men aged 19 to 50 and 18 mg a day for women aged 19 to 50, and 8 mg a day for women aged 51 to 70. Girls aged 14 to 18 have a recommended intake of 15 mg a day. The tolerable upper intake level is 45 mg a day for adults. The table assumes that women aged 51 and older are postmenopausal. It also notes that the iron requirement is 1.8 times higher for vegetarians because of lower bioavailability ([Health Canada](https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/healthy-eating/dietary-reference-intakes/tables/reference-values-elements.html)). **Australia.** The 2006 Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand, issued by the National Health and Medical Research Council, set a recommended dietary intake of 18 mg a day for young women, with an estimated average requirement of 8 mg a day. The summary notes that the new 18 mg figure is above the earlier range of 12 to 16 mg, and that the 8 mg average requirement falls below 70 percent of that earlier intake, because menstrual losses vary so widely ([NHMRC](https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/sites/default/files/images/Nutrient-reference-aus-nz-executive-summary.pdf)). **Japan.** Japan's Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese, 2020 edition, are the reference used by a 2023 national study by Shinozaki and colleagues at the University of Tokyo. According to PubMed, the study of 4,450 people aged 1 to 79 years found that 79 to 95 percent of females aged 12 to 64 had usual iron intakes below the estimated average requirement ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15245113)). **China.** China's reference values are the Chinese Dietary Reference Intakes of 2013. According to PubMed, a 2015 analysis by Du and colleagues at the National Institute for Nutrition and Health in Beijing, using the Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey for 2000 to 2011, compared women aged 25 to 55 in nine provinces with those values. It found that 50.9 percent of the women met the iron requirement in 2011 ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26564700/)). **Where the bodies agree and differ.** NIH, Health Canada and Australia's NHMRC each set an 18 mg a day figure for women in their reproductive years, and NIH and Health Canada both set the adult upper level at 45 mg a day. Germany and the EFSA opinion put premenopausal women at 16 mg a day. For men, Germany's 11 mg matches the EFSA reference intake, while NIH and Health Canada give 8 mg. These figures come from different methods, and the bodies do not agree on a single number. ## What the evidence shows now, and where it is disputed Iron and zinc compete. NIH says supplements containing 25 mg or more of iron can reduce zinc absorption and plasma zinc concentrations ([NIH ODS](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/)). A 1986 review by Solomons in the Journal of Nutrition described the competition and reported that iron-to-zinc ratios of 2 to 1 or greater appear to have a measurable effect on human zinc nutriture ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/116.6.927)). Whittaker's 1998 review found that the effect was not seen when iron and zinc were given in a meal. Stable-isotope studies showed no adverse effect at current fortification amounts ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/68.2.442S)). The open question is about ratio, dose and timing. Our [zinc reference page](/ingredients/zinc) covers the zinc side. A trial in a high-malaria setting raised a different question. Sazawal and colleagues studied routine iron and folic acid for preschool children on Pemba, in Zanzibar. According to PubMed, the iron and folic acid groups were 12 percent more likely to die or need hospital treatment for an adverse event, and 11 percent more likely to be admitted. The trial was stopped early ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(06)67962-2)). Readers interested in the infection side can start with our [immune health topic](/health/immune-health). The other side of the dose question is genetic. Feder and colleagues reported in 1996 a novel MHC class I-like gene, HLA-H, that is mutated in patients with haemochromatosis. According to PubMed, 83 percent of the 178 patients studied were homozygous for the C282Y change ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0896-399)). NIH says about 1 in 10 White people carry C282Y. It adds that people with the condition can show signs of iron toxicity by their 30s without treatment, and that the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (2011) recommends avoiding iron and vitamin C supplements in treating hemochromatosis ([NIH ODS](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/)). What the evidence leaves open is the balance. For most people with normal intestinal function, both NIH and EFSA describe dietary iron as low risk. The supplement cases, the malaria trial and the zinc studies show that dose, form and context matter, and ferritin can mislead when inflammation is present. ## Why this history is worth knowing Three things make this record more useful than a label. First, the same mineral appears as a prepared medicine in Ayurveda, as a named pill for a named condition in 1832 Europe, and as a packaged product whose warnings were written after decades of poisonings. Second, ferritin, the test that measures stored iron, is one that its own sources describe as sensitive to inflammation. Third, the number to read on a label is the elemental figure, and the form affects how much of that iron the body absorbs. Each thread is also a reminder that a historical source is only as useful as its date and its translation. On that last point, NIH says ascorbic acid "enhances the bioavailability of nonheme iron," while phytate and polyphenols inhibit absorption and calcium may reduce it ([NIH ODS](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/)). Our [post on vitamin C and immune system support](/blog/immune-support/vitamin-c-for-immune-system-support) covers the vitamin itself. ## Frequently asked questions ### How far back do iron remedies go? The first iron medicines in this article are Ayurvedic. The Charaka Samhita's pandu chapter lists iron preparations, and modern studies of mandura and lauha bhasma describe what some of those preparations contained. The online edition does not date the text, so this answer gives no date. ### What was chlorosis, and how was it treated? Chlorosis was a disease first recorded in the 16th century, mainly in adolescent girls and young women. Thomas Sydenham recommended iron for it in the 17th century, and Blaud published a pill of iron sulphate and potassium carbonate for it in 1832. According to PubMed, Guggenheim's 1995 review reports that reports of the disease stopped in the 1930s. ### Who named hemoglobin, and when? Felix Hoppe-Seyler proposed the name hemoglobin in 1864, according to Edsall's 1972 history. A 1886 analysis by Zinoffsky reported iron and sulfur values for the pigment. ### Why does iron need warning labels on supplements? According to PubMed, a 1979 review by Gädeke documents 720 acute cases of iron poisoning recorded from 1826 to the present. The U.S. rule under 21 CFR 101.17(e) requires a warning statement on solid iron supplements, and the 1997 FDA rule added packaging requirements for high-dose products. The warning tells readers to keep the product out of reach of children. ### What do the iron forms on supplement labels mean? They are salts and complexes, and the number beside the name is usually the weight of the compound rather than the elemental iron. NIH gives the elemental percentages for ferrous fumarate (33 percent), ferrous sulfate (20 percent) and ferrous gluconate (12 percent). The elemental figure is the one to compare across products. ### What did the ferritin test change about how iron is measured? It gave clinicians a measure of stored iron rather than red-cell hemoglobin. Addison's 1972 assay and the 1975 review by Jacobs and Worwood set out the basis. NIH now calls serum ferritin the most efficient and cost-effective test for diagnosing iron deficiency, and it notes that inflammation can raise the result. ### How much iron is too much for adults? NIH sets the adult tolerable upper intake level at 45 mg a day. That is a safety threshold for total intake from food and supplements, not a recommended amount. A clinician should review any high iron result before anyone adds a supplement. ### Does vitamin C change how the body absorbs iron? NIH says ascorbic acid, which is vitamin C, enhances the bioavailability of nonheme iron. People whose iron tests run high should ask a clinician before using vitamin C supplements, because NIH cites that caution in the treatment of hemochromatosis. ## Next reads - [Zinc](/ingredients/zinc): the reference page for the zinc side of the iron interaction described above. - [Immune health](/health/immune-health): the topic page for the infection and immune questions raised by the malaria trial. - [Our approach to raw material sourcing and testing](/blog/new/our-approach-to-raw-material-sourcing-and-testing): how we approach sourcing and testing for the raw materials we use. ### Related reading - [The history of vitamin C from scurvy to ascorbic acid](/blog/history/history-of-vitamin-c-from-scurvy-to-ascorbic-acid) - [How folate moved from clinic to fortified bread](/blog/history/history-of-folate-from-lucy-wills-to-fortified-bread) - [Vitamin B12, from liver to cobalamin](/blog/history/history-of-vitamin-b12-from-liver-cure-to-cobalamin) - [Calcium supplements from chalk to bone trials](/blog/history/history-of-calcium-supplements-from-chalk-to-bone-trials) - [Copper and iron in the 1928 rat study, from the history of copper](/blog/history/history-of-copper-from-anemia-to-trace-mineral) - [How iodine went from seaweed ash to iodized salt, another mineral origin](/blog/history/history-of-iodine-from-seaweed-to-iodized-salt) - [Moringa leaves and the iron claim](/blog/history/history-of-moringa-from-ayurveda-to-superfood) - [The same poison-and-nutrient question for selenium](/blog/history/history-of-selenium-from-poison-to-keshan-disease)