Nails for Breakfast?

Most people know that breakfast cereals are fortified with iron and other essential minerals and vitamins. What they don’t know is that in some cases the iron is actually added in the form of metallic, elemental iron—nails for breakfast! In this demonstration, iron is extracted from cereal using a magnetic stirring bar and the amount of iron is compared with the nutritional label information. Reaction with hydrochloric acid and qualitative tests for dissolved iron simulate what happens when the iron dissolves in the acidic contents of the stomach.