19mg Iron & Folate Strips

What you get in every strip

• 19mg of iron, as Ferric Sacharate (106% DV)
• 400mcg DFE of folate (100% DV), of which 240mcg is folic acid
• One oral strip weighs 200mg — 30 strips, 30 servings per pack
• Raspberry flavour, sweetened only with monk fruit extract and steviol glycosides
• Gluten free, vegetarian
• Two rows on the panel, both at or just over 100% of the Daily Value — no proprietary blend

Iron, and the form it comes in

Iron is an essential mineral, which is the technical way of saying your body can't make it and has to get it from what you eat. It's also one of the minerals shoppers look for by name and by milligram, and this panel puts both up front: 19mg a strip, which it works out to 106% of the Daily Value.

Just as useful is that the panel names the form. Iron turns up in supplements as any number of different compounds, and many labels simply print "iron" and leave it there. This one specifies — the iron here is Ferric Sacharate, written exactly as the panel writes it.

Folate, and what DFE means

Folate comes in at 400mcg DFE, exactly 100% of the Daily Value. DFE stands for Dietary Folate Equivalents, the unit that lets folate from different sources be compared on one scale. The panel notes that the 400mcg DFE here comes from 240mcg of folic acid, so you're not left guessing at the source.

Why a strip

Iron usually arrives as a large tablet or a liquid that needs a spoon. This is a 200mg square of pullulan, a polysaccharide film from the same family of material vegetarian capsules are made from, with cellulose for body, lecithin and medium-chain triglycerides — a fat your body handles differently from longer chains — carrying the ingredients evenly through the film, and Xanthan Gum holding its texture. It dissolves on the tongue in under a minute. It travels flat in a wallet, a bag or a desk drawer, and there's nothing to measure or wash up.

How it tastes

Raspberry, with citric acid giving it the tartness real berries have. The sweetening is worth a line of its own: the only sweeteners in this strip are monk fruit extract and steviol glycosides, both from plants — no sugar alcohols doing the heavy lifting, no artificial sweeteners. It's vegetarian and gluten free.

Who it's for

Anyone paying attention to their iron intake who wants it in a form they'll actually take every day. People who find iron tablets hard to swallow or unpleasant to chew. Vegetarians, who think about dietary iron more than most. Travellers with no interest in packing another bottle. And anyone who'd rather read two clear rows on a panel than a list of twenty things they can't verify.

How to use it

Place 1 oral strip on the tongue daily and allow it to dissolve.

What's in it

Pullulan, Cellulose, Lecithin, Raspberry flavor, Monk Fruit extract, Citric acid, Medium chain triglycerides, Xanthan Gum, Steviol glycosides.

30 Oral Strips · 30 servings · Serving size 1 Oral Strip (200 mg)

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.

Caution: Do not exceed recommended dose. Consult a physician if pregnant, nursing, under 18, or have a medical condition. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. STORE IN A COOL, DRY PLACE.