Commercially available kelp and seaweed products – valuable iodine source or risk of excess intake?
Publication details
Journal : Food & Nutrition Research (FNR) , vol. 65 , 2021
International Standard Numbers
:
Printed
:
1654-6628
Electronic
:
1654-661X
Publication type : Academic article
Links
:
DOI
:
doi.org/10.29219/FNR.V65.7584
ARKIV
:
hdl.handle.net/11250/2738781
Research areas
Diet and health
Food from new sources
If you have questions about the publication, you may contact Nofima’s Chief Librarian.
Kjetil Aune
Chief Librarian
kjetil.aune@nofima.no
Summary
Background: Seaweeds and kelps, also known as macroalgae, have long been common in the East-Asian diet. During recent years, macroalgae have entered the global food market, and a variety of macroalgae products are now available for consumers. Some macroalgae species are known to be particularly rich in iodine, but little data regarding the iodine content of macroalgae-containing foods exists.Objective:The aim of this research study was to analyse the iodine content in a large variety of commercially available macroalgae-containing foods and supplements and to evaluate whether such products are sources of adequate dietary iodine.Design:Ninety-six different products were collected after surveying the Norwegian market for commercially available macroalgae products, collected from three categories: 1) wholefood macroalgae products (n = 43), 2) macroalgae-containing foods (n = 39), and 3) dietary supplements containing macroalgae (n = 14). All prod-ucts were analysed for iodine content by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).Results:The iodine content in one portion of wholefood macroalgae products ranged from 128 to 62,400 μg. In macroalgae-containing foods, the iodine content ranged from 30 to 25,300 μg per portion, and in supple-ments it ranged from 5 to 5,600 μg per daily dose. The species with the highest analysed iodine content were oarweed, sugarkelp and kombu, with mean iodine levels of 7,800, 4,469 and 2,276 μg/g, respectively. For 54 products, the intake of one portion or dose would exceed the tolerable upper intake level (UL) for iodine.Discussion and conclusion: The iodine content in the included products was variable and for most products high, exceeding the tolerable upper intake level (UL) if consumed as a serving or portion size. The labelling of macroalgae species included, and declaration of iodine content, were inadequate or inaccurate for several products. As macroalgae-containing products are unreliable iodine sources, inclusion of such products in the diet may pose a risk of consuming excessive amounts of iodine