Iodine concentration of milk-alternative drinks available in the UK in comparison to cows’ milk

Bath, Sarah, Hill, S, Infante, HG, Elghul, S, Nezianya, CJ and Rayman, Margaret (2017) Iodine concentration of milk-alternative drinks available in the UK in comparison to cows’ milk British Journal of Nutrition, 118 (7). pp. 525-532.

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Abstract

Iodine deficiency is present in certain groups of the UK population, notably in pregnant women; this is of concern as iodine is required for fetal brain development. UK milk is rich in iodine and is the principal dietary iodine source. UK sales of milk-alternative drinks are increasing but data are lacking on their iodine content. As consumers may replace iodine-rich milk with milk-alternative drinks, we aimed to measure the iodine concentration of those available in the UK. Using ICP-MS, we determined the iodine concentration of seven types of milk-alternative drink (soya, almond, coconut, oat, rice, hazelnut, and hemp) by analysing 47 products purchased in November/December 2015. For comparison, winter samples of conventional (n=5) and organic (n=5) cows’ milk were included. The median iodine concentration of all of the unfortified milk-alternative drinks (n=44) was low, at 7.3 μg/kg, just 1.7% of our value for winter conventional cows’ milk (median 438 μg/kg). One brand (not the market leader), fortified its soya, oat, and rice drinks with iodine and those drinks had a higher iodine concentration than unfortified drinks, at 280, 287, 266 μg/kg respectively. The iodine concentration of organic milk (median 324 μg/kg) was lower than that of conventional milk. Although many milk-alternative drinks are fortified with calcium, at the time of this study, just three of 47 drinks were fortified with iodine. Individuals who consume milk-alternative drinks that are not fortified with iodine in place of cows’ milk may be at risk of iodine deficiency unless they consume alternative dietary iodine sources.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions :	Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences > School of Biosciences and Medicine
Authors :	Name Email ORCID Bath, Sarah s.bath@surrey.ac.uk Hill, S Infante, HG Elghul, S Nezianya, CJ Rayman, Margaret M.Rayman@surrey.ac.uk
Date :	26 September 2017
Identification Number :	10.1017/S0007114517002136
Copyright Disclaimer :	Copyright 2017 The Author(s). Published by Cambridge University Press.
Uncontrolled Keywords :	iodine, iodine deficiency, milk, diet, public health, pregnancy, UK
Depositing User :	Melanie Hughes
Date Deposited :	26 Sep 2017 16:03
Last Modified :	20 Apr 2018 09:56
URI:	http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/id/eprint/841784

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