Predicted dietary intake of selenium by the general adult population in Belgium

Abstract

The total selenium content of about 800 food products purchased in Belgium was determined and combined with food records to determine the nutritional selenium status of Belgian people. The largest selenium concentrations (>1 mg kg⁻¹) were found in Brazil nuts and offal, of which the consumption is limited. Usually consumed food groups with the highest selenium concentrations were fish and shellfish (0.2–0.9 mg kg⁻¹), eggs, poultry meat, cheese, mushrooms and pasta (approximately 0.2 mg kg⁻¹). The mean dietary selenium intake was calculated to be 60 µg day⁻¹, which is at the lower end but within the range recommended by the Superior Health Council in Belgium (60–70 µg day⁻¹), and adequate according to the 55 µg day⁻¹ recommended by the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) of the European Commission. The major sources of selenium intake are meat and meat products (31%), fish and shellfish (20%), pasta and rice (12%), and bread and breakfast cereals (11%).

Keywords:

• selenium
• dietary intake
• meat
• fish
• wheat
• pasta

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by FWO Vlaanderen (Fund for Scientific Research), Project No. G.0194.08. Céline Thiry was financially supported as an additional researcher by the Belgian Federal Science Policy.