If you arrived here looking for iron for your child, the most useful thing we can tell you is this: we do not sell iron. Pocket Kids, Teens and Adults contain none. It is not an oversight. It is a decision.
Iron is one of the most common questions from people looking at children's supplements, and the information available is often supplied by people with iron to sell. This page is information, not a sale.
The short answer
- Our product contains no iron. None of the three formulas.
- The body absorbs only a fraction of the iron it eats. EFSA assumes about 10% up to age 11 and 16% after that.
- Iron from meat and iron from plants behave differently, and that changes what is worth putting on the plate.
- It is the nutrient where supplementing without a blood test is a bad idea, and where excess is not harmless.
- If iron is the question, a GP and a result beat a pouch. Ours is the wrong pouch for that job.
Why iron is different
Almost every nutrient has a comfortable margin between too little and too much. Iron does not.
Absorption is low and highly variable. In calculating requirements, EFSA assumes only about 10% of dietary iron is absorbed up to age 11, and about 16% after that. The rest passes through. It is why recommended figures look high against what the body actually uses.
Absorption changes depending on what else is on the plate. Vitamin C increases the absorption of non-haem iron, and it is one of the few nutrient interactions solid enough to be worth acting on at the table. Tea and coffee taken with a meal reduce it.
And excess is not harmless. This is where iron parts company with everything else. With most nutrients, a little too much is simply excreted. Iron does not work that way, which is why iron supplements at home belong out of reach with the same care as medicines.
Haem and non-haem, and what it changes at dinner
Dietary iron comes in two forms.
Haem iron, found in meat, fish and poultry. It is absorbed relatively easily and is not much affected by the rest of the meal.
Non-haem iron, found in pulses, dark green vegetables, nuts and fortified cereals. It is absorbed far less readily, and this is the one vitamin C helps.
Which gives you something simple to do: at a meal without meat, adding a source of vitamin C does more than adding more beans. Some pepper, tomato, or fruit afterwards does real work.
If meat has left the plate for months, that is a different page: If your child does not eat meat. B12 sits in animal foods. Iron is still this job, not a multinutrient job.
The numbers, and the ones we are not publishing
The reference value used on EU labels is 14 mg, from Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. As always, that is a labelling figure rather than a recommendation by age.
For adults, EFSA sets 11 mg a day for men and 16 mg for premenopausal women, with postmenopausal women following the figure for men.
For children and adolescents, EFSA calculates requirements differently, accounting for growth, losses, and the percentage absorbed at each age. We have left the age table out, and the reason is honest: we could not verify each value in an openly accessible source, and this is precisely the nutrient where publishing an approximate number would be irresponsible. EFSA's full opinion is linked at the end.
Teenage girls are a separate jump. That page is here.
When to talk to your GP
Iron is the nutrient where the right question is almost never "which supplement should I buy" and almost always "is a blood test worth doing".
Book an appointment if your child eats no meat and nobody guided that transition, if you are simply wondering, or if a clinician has already named iron. A blood test answers in days a question an article cannot answer at all.
In Ireland that is the GP. In Portugal, the family doctor or SNS 24. In Spain, the paediatrician. AESAN publishes healthy-eating materials; they do not replace that appointment.
And do not start supplementing before that. It is the only nutrient about which we write that sentence.
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Where My Daily Pocket fits
A daily multinutrient is taken by everyone in the house, every day, without a blood test and without supervision. That is entirely appropriate for nutrients with a wide margin, such as the B vitamins or vitamin C.
For iron it is not. Requirements vary enormously between a six year old, a teenage girl and an adult man, excess accumulates, and the decision should sit with whoever knows the person and has the results in front of them.
| Formula | Iron in the pouch | Vitamin C in one scoop | Who it is for | Who it is not for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pocket Kids (4–11) | None | 80 mg | A daily multinutrient for that age, if that is the job | Iron. A blood test. A child under 4. |
| Pocket Teens (12–17) | None | 100 mg | Same idea, teen amounts | Iron. |
| Pocket Adults (18+) | None | 150 mg | Same idea, adult amounts | Iron. Pregnancy as prenatal care. |
Vitamin C contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, in that authorised wording. It is also the dietary lever on plant iron. That is not an iron claim, and we are not making one.
We could have included a small dose. It would have looked good on the label and solved nothing for anyone who genuinely needed it, while adding iron for everyone who did not. We would hate to be on that list.
If iron is your question, this product is not the answer, and we will not pretend otherwise.
FAQ
Does Pocket Kids contain iron?
No. None of the three formulas.
How much of the iron in food is absorbed?
EFSA assumes about 10% up to age 11, and about 16% after that. The rest passes through.
Can I add an iron drop on top of a multinutrient?
Not from this page. That is a GP and a result. Iron is the nutrient where guessing has a cost in both directions.
Does vitamin C help with iron from beans?
Vitamin C at the same meal helps the body take up non-haem iron. Pepper, tomato, fruit. That is a kitchen move, not a reason to buy a second bottle.
Where are the age figures?
In EFSA's 2015 opinion, linked below. We will not reprint an approximate table for this nutrient.
Sources
- EFSA, dietary reference values for iron, 2015
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII
- EU Register of nutrition and health claims
- SNS 24
- AESAN
- If your child does not eat meat
- Iron and teenage girls
About the authors
Lina is a co-founder of My Daily Pocket and is certified in nutrition. Stanislava is a co-founder. They write the Knowledge Hub together.
Last reviewed: 14 October 2026.
Food supplements should not replace a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. No supplement is a substitute for a varied, balanced diet. Stay within the dose on the pack. This page does not replace a GP. If you are pregnant, on medicines, or a child has a medical condition, speak to a professional.
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