Abstract

Iron and selenium have been determinded in 108 samples of bread which reflect the bread concumption in the Netherlands in March 1988. Quality assurance included duplicate analysis of samples and assay of the standard reference materials Brown Bread and Whole Meal flour of BCE;EC/Brussels. Results are both repeatable and accurate. Mean level (N=108) for iron in bread is 18 mg/kg and for selenium from 12-45 mug/kg. On average, brown bread and rye bread contain twice as much iron as white bread does. The types of bread assayed hardly differ in selenium content. However, there is one exception: rye bread which on average contains halve the selenium content of the other samples. Mean selenium levels of all tytpes of bread assayed in this study are considerably below those found for Dutch bread in previous studies. In general, the role of bread as a source for a significant portion of the daily selenium requirement is overestimated. Bread considered in this study covers, on average, only 3-14% of the daily selenium requirement of males and females aged 22 years and on.