§ Mr. HainTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are relative levels of selenium content in North American wheat and European wheat; how levels of consumption of each of those wheats has changed in England and Wales over the last 25 years; and what effect such a change has had on dietary selenium levels. [28874]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 19 June 1995]: The selenium content of wheat varies according to its source. North American wheats contain an average 0.42µg/g1 and European wheat 0.025µg/g2 to 0.14µg/g3. The levels of usage of North American wheat and European wheat over the last 25 years are set out in the table.
190W
Trade Data 000 tonnes Wheat 1970 1993 1994 Imports Total 4,921 1,629 1,146
Trade Data 000 tonnes Wheat 1970 1993 1994 of which EU 8/EU 11 883 1,384 899 3rd Countries 4,038 244 247 of which US 684 0 0 Canada 1,533 227 225 The effect of the above change has been a fall in selenium intake from bread. However recent measurements2 3 of selenium in a wide range of non-cereal foods suggests that many foods, especially meat and eggs, have a higher selenium level than those measured and reported by MAFF in 19781. The estimated mean daily intake of selenium reported in 1978, based on 1974 intake, was 60µg/person/day. As I explained in my answer of 16 May 1995, Official Report, column 201, the estimations of average intake based on results from two independent analyses of the Ministry's 1991 total diet study and a separate research project in 1994 are either 30–40 µg/day or 50–60µg/day, depending on the method of analysis and estimation of intake used. A newly published study carried out at Kings college London on the selenium content of foods has estimated the average intake as 62.2µg/g3.
Notes:
1 Thorn J. Robertson J., Buss D. H., Bunton N. G. (1978). Trace nutrients. Selenium in British Food. British Journal of Nutrition 39, 391–396.
2 Barclay M. N. I., MacPherson A. and Dixon J. (1994). Analysis for selenium. (Available from MAFF Library).
3 Butcher M. A., Judd P. A., Caygill C., Peach S. and Diplock A. T. (1995) Current Selenium content of foods and an estimation of average intake in the United Kingdom. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, in press.
§ Mr. HainTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what plans he has to undertake a survey of selenium consumption in the population; [28875]
(2) in how many regions the average selenium intake is above the lower reference value; and in how many of those regions the average selenium intake level is above the higher reference value. [28876]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 19 June 1995]: There are two main ways in which MAFF determines intakes of minerals such as selenium by the population. The first is through surveys of food purchase or consumption which include the national food survey, a continuous survey of all foods brought into the household, and the national diet and nutrition survey programme of individuals. The second is a total diet study which involves the analysis of complete diets. However, as I stated in my reply of 16 May 1995, Official Report, column 201 there is some uncertainty e analytical results and it is not therefore possible to provide reliable intake figures for selenium by region. We have a programme of work under way to try to resolve this issue.