Table 2.

Statistical means of the differences in the iron content (mg iron/100g food)^a of the plant based food groups between the decades^b (number of foods in the group, means, standard deviation and 95% confidence intervals)

		2000s – 1980s	2000s – 1930s	1980s – 1930s
Fruit	n	29	20	20
	mean of difference	0.12	−0.14	−0.35
	SD	0.67	0.53	0.76
	95% CI	0.00, 0.24	−0.25, −0.02*	−0.52, −0.18*
Vegetables, legumes and pulses	n	47	22c	22c
	mean of difference	0.08	−0.09	−0.17
	SD	0.62	0.48	0.63
	95% CI	−0.01, 0.17	−0.19, 0.01	−0.31, −0.04*
Cereal products	n	41	nd	nd
	mean of difference	0.65
	SD	3.15
	95% CI	0.16, 1.14**

nd, not determined

^aValues shown are total iron content and will include the natural iron content plus any fortificant iron where it has been used.

^bthe decades compared were: the re-analysis presented in this work (2000s), the latest literature values (1980s) ⁽¹⁾ and the earliest literature values (1930s) ⁽¹³⁾.

^cVegetables only due to lack of data in 1930s on legumes and pulses.

^*indicate a statistical decrease from 1930s to 1980s or 2000s .

^**indicate a statistical increase from 1980s to 2000s.