The Mineral and Trace Element Content of Mexican Cereals, Cereal Products, Pulses, and Snacks: Preliminary Data

As part of the development of new food composition tables for Mexico, 56 samples of Mexican cereal, cereal products, pulses, and snacks were analyzed for seven elements (Mn, Cu, Zn, Co, Cr, Cd, and Pb) by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. A further six elements (Na, K, Ca, Mg, P, and Fe) were measured in the same foods by different methods (Na and K by flame photometry, Ca, Mg, P, and Fe by spectrophotometric procedures). These foods, which can provide more than half the energy and most of the protein in a rural Mexican diet, show substantial differences in their mineral content depending on whether the foods are home-grown, imported, and/or processed. Since the samples were pooled before analysis, the ability to determine the variances of the food was lost. Further sampling of the foods is being planned to determine the variance within individual products, the variances in the products acquired in rural villages, and the variances in the products acquired in different cities.