Selenium in Food
The amount of selenium in a plant-derived food varies largely with its protein content and with the area of the country in which it is grown. The concentration of selenium in the milk, eggs, and meat of animals is influenced by the level of selenium in the plant material they consume.
In North American diets, cereals are the dominant food plant origin for supplying selenium, with much of the cereal consumption in the form of bread. The United States and Canadian wheat crops are produced primarily in selenium adequate regions and this result in moderately high average concentration of the elements in wheat related foods in both countries.
Meat and fish also are good sources of selenium for humans, whereas most fruits and vegetables provide little selenium. Many experts concluded that ordinary cooking techniques did not appear to result in major losses of selenium from most foods. Little or no loss of selenium occurred as a result of broiling meat, baking seafoods, frying eggs, or boiling cereals. Experts found that food preparation methods did not affect the selenium content of legumes and vegetables. They also found that although some soybean meat extenders contain comparable or higher selenium levels than the beef or chicken they replace, others have much lower levels.
However, small losses of selenium occur during the manufacturing of breakfast cereals with lost selenium appearing in the by-product destined for livestock feeding.
Selenium in Food
