Selenium Content of a Range of UK Foods

Selenium intakes in 18–64-y-old Irish adults

“…The substantial fall in Se intake in the UK can be largely explained by the drop in imports of Se-rich, high protein wheat for bread-making flour from North America and Canada (Barclay et al, 1995). Similar trends have been noted in other European countries (Rayman, 1997).…”

“…Over the past two decades Se intakes have fallen in the UK and elsewhere in Europe (Rayman 1997). For example, about 20 y ago dietary Se intakes in the UK were 60 mg=day on average, whereas a 1994 survey commissioned by UK's Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Foods found that mean Se intake had dropped to 34 mg=day (Barclay et al, 1995;Rayman, 1997), considerably less than the reference nutrient intakes of 75 mg=day for men and 60 mg=day for women (Department of Health, 1991). Furthermore, there has been little change in UK estimates of Se intakes since 1994.…”

“…For example, the current mean Se intake in the UK population is estimated to be 39 mg=day (Ysart et al, 2000). The substantial fall in Se intake over the last 20 y can be largely explained by the drop in imports of Se-rich, high protein wheat for breadmaking flour from North America and Canada (Barclay et al, 1995). Due to EU policies and changes in bread-making technology, there has been an increased use of low-Se, low-protein UK and European wheat varieties (Rayman, 1997).…”

“…Modifications were made to the food compositional database to take account of recently reported Se levels in Irish and UK foods, especially bread and cereals, meat and fish, and milk and dairy produce (Murphy & Cashman, 2001), which are the food groups that provide most of the total Se in the diets of northern Europeans (see review by Van Dokkum, 1995). For food groups other than these, Se values were updated using data recently reported for UK foods by Barclay et al (1995). An independent nutritionist checked that the dietary codes used were appropriate and that the coding system was consistently applied.…”

“…In the context of these health effects, low or diminishing Se status in some parts of the world, notably in some European countries, is giving cause for concern. For example, about 20 y ago dietary Se intakes in the UK were 60 mg=day on average, whereas a 1994 survey commissioned by UK's Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Foods found that Se intake had dropped to 34 mg=day (Barclay et al, 1995;Rayman, 1997), considerably less than the UK dietary reference values of 75 mg Se=day for men and 60 mg Se=day for women (Department of Health, 1991). There are similar findings elsewhere in Europe (Rayman, 1997).…”