An assessment of the iodine and selenium content of cow's milk produced in Northern Ireland

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Abstract
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 (1-4). 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.

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