Cow’s milk is the most important dietary source of iodine in the UK and Ireland, and also contributes to dietary selenium intakes. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of season, milk fat class (whole; semi-skimmed; skimmed) and pasteurisation on iodine and selenium concentrations in Northern Ireland (NI) milk, and to estimate the contribution of this milk to consumer iodine and selenium intakes. Milk samples (unpasteurised, whole, semi-skimmed and skimmed) were collected weekly from two large NI creameries between May 2013 and April 2014 and were analysed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Using milk consumption data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) Rolling Programme, the contribution of milk (at iodine and selenium concentrations measured in the present study) to UK dietary intakes was estimated. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) iodine concentration of milk was 475.9 ± 63.5 µg/kg and the mean selenium concentration of milk was 17.8 ± 2.7 µg/kg. Season had an important determining effect on the iodine, but not the selenium, content of cow’s milk, where iodine concentrations were highest in milk produced in spring compared to autumn months (534.3 ± 53.7 vs. 433.6 ± 57.8 µg/kg, respectively; p = 0.001). The measured iodine and selenium concentrations of NI milk were higher than those listed in current UK Food Composition Databases (Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2002); FSA (2015)). The dietary modelling analysis confirmed that milk makes an important contribution to iodine and selenium intakes. This contribution may be higher than previously estimated if iodine and selenium (+25.0 and +1.1 µg/day respectively) concentrations measured in the present study were replicable across the UK at the current level of milk consumption. Iodine intakes were theoretically shown to vary by season concurrent with the seasonal variation in NI milk iodine concentrations. Routine monitoring of milk iodine concentrations is required and efforts should be made to understand reasons for fluctuations in milk iodine concentrations, in order to realise the nutritional impact to consumers.

A novel strategy for the absolute quantification of selenium (Se) included in selenoprotein P (SEPP1), an important biomarker for human nutrition and disease, including diabetes and cancer, is presented here for the first time. It is based on the use of species-specific double isotope dilution mass spectrometry (SSIDA) in combination with HPLC-ICP-MS/MS for the determination of protein bound Se down to the peptide level in a complex plasma matrix with a total content of Se of 105.5 μg kg(-1). The method enabled the selective Se speciation analysis of human plasma samples without the need of extensive cleanup or preconcentration steps as required for traditional protein mass spectrometric approaches. To assess the method accuracy, two plasma reference materials, namely, BCR-637 and SRM1950, for which literature data and a reference value for SEPP1 have been reported, were analyzed using complementary hyphenated methods and the species-specific approach developed in this work. The Se mass fractions obtained via the isotopic ratios (78)Se/(76)Se and (82)Se/(76)Se for each of the Se-peptides, namely, ENLPSLCSUQGLR (ENL) and AEENITESCQUR (AEE) (where U is SeCys), were found to agree within 2.4%. A relative expanded combined uncertainty (k = 2) of 5.4% was achieved for a Se (as SEPP1) mass fraction of approximately 60 μg kg(-1). This work represents a systematic approach to the accurate quantitation of plasma SEPP1 at clinical levels using SSIDA quantification. Such methodology will be invaluable for the certification of reference materials and the provision of reference values to clinical measurements and clinical trials.

The present study shows that the consumption of additional cow milk can significantly increase UIC in women of childbearing age. These results suggest that cow milk is a potentially important dietary source of iodine in this population group. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02767167.

Cow's milk is the most important dietary source of iodine and it also contributes to dietary selenium intakes in many European countries, including the UK and Ireland (1)(2)(3)(4) . Iodine and selenium are necessary for the maintenance of thyroid hormone homeostasis and have important roles in growth and development (5) . While the UK and Ireland were historically thought to be iodine sufficient, emerging evidence shows that many of the population are now iodine deficient (6,7) . The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of season, milk fat class and pasteurisation on iodine and selenium concentrations in Northern Ireland (NI) milk.Milk samples (unpasteurised, whole, semi-skimmed and skimmed) were collected from two large NI creameries between May 2013 and April 2014. Monthly samples of each milk type were analysed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for iodine and selenium content.This study provides an updated assessment of iodine and selenium concentrations in NI produced cow's milk. Season was found to have an important determining effect on the iodine, but not the selenium, content of cow's milk. The observed seasonal variation in iodine is likely to reflect the change in animal feeding practices across seasons (8) . Iodine and selenium concentrations in milk were not affected by the milk fat class or by pasteurisation. The iodine and selenium concentrations reported in this study are higher than those listed in food composition databases highlighting the need for further analysis to update these data (9) . As cow's milk is the main dietary source of iodine in the UK and Ireland, the seasonal variation in the iodine content of milk is likely to impact iodine intake and thus status across the year. * P value for comparison between groups from independent t test or one-way ANOVA { Mean of skimmed, semi-skimmed and whole milk samples { Samples were collected pre-pasteurisation and pre-homogenisation a,b,c values within a column with different superscript letters represent significance (P < 0·05).