383 Utilization of calcium in bread highly fortified with calcium as calcium carbonate or as whey.

J. A. GELROTH, S. D. Leinen, and G. S. Ranhotra. Nutrition Research Program, American Institute of Baking, Manhattan, KS 66505.

In a short-term study with rats, we showed that calcium (Ca) in bread highly fortified with Ca carbonate greatly improved the rats’ Ca status early in life (Cereal Chem., in press). Whether this improvement would match improvement if a dairy source of Ca were used was the focus of this study. Breads were again highly fortified with Ca (4.4 times the U.S. enrichment standard) using Ca carbonate (bread A), Ca carbonate plus lactose (bread B) or a Ca-rich whey fraction (bread C). Young rats were fed bread-based diets (0.5% Ca) and sacrificed at 4 or 8 weeks. No significant differences were observed in serum Ca levels among the three groups of rats (fed bread A, B or C). Skeletal Ca status, Ca absorption and bone (femur) strength data are being collected. All information will be presented and discussed.