Can someone in the know tell me what "reduced iron" is?

Question

I'm reading an ingredients label, and one of the items listed is "reduced iron." What is it? Is it reduced to iron, or reduced from iron? If it's reduced from something, is it reduced from something more popular? If it's reduced from iron, what's it reduced to? a gravy?

I just don't get it.

Is Reduced Iron rusty?

Why not just put less iron in, instead of reducing its content?

Seriously.

Thanks for your response!

Answer 1

The Iron content has been lowered from its naturally high iron content. Either by a chemical or natural procces.
Iron can cause gastric upset in a lot of people.