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

• Published in: British journal of nutrition 2017-10, Vol.118 (7), p.525-532
• Main Authors: Bath, Sarah C., Hill, Sarah, Infante, Heidi Goenaga, Elghul, Sarah, Nezianya, Carolina J., Rayman, Margaret P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algae; Alternatives; Animals; Beverages; Brain; Cattle; Consumers; Cow's milk; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dairy cattle; Dairy products; Farming; Female; Fetuses; Food allergies; Food, Fortified - analysis; Food, Organic; Hemp; Human and Clinical Nutrition; Inductively coupled plasma; Iodine; Iodine - analysis; Laboratories; Milk; Milk - chemistry; Milk Substitutes - chemistry; Nutrient deficiency; Nutrition; Nutritive Sweeteners - analysis; Pregnancy; Public health; Rice; Sample Size; Seasons; Thyroid gland; United Kingdom; Winter; Womens health
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114517002136

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 inductively coupled plasma-MS, we determined the iodine concentration of seven types of milk-alternative drink (soya, almond, coconut, oat, rice, hazelnut and hemp) by analysing forty-seven 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 and 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 Ca, at the time of this study, just three of forty-seven 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.