Iodine Contents in Baby Food Consumed in Japan

Abstract

Abstract. To evaluate iodine intake in Japanese infants, iodine contents were determined in both commercial and homemade baby food samples consumed in Japan. Fifty-three samples of commercial bottled or retort baby food and 25 samples of homemade baby food for one day were collected and their iodine contents were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after an extraction with 0.5% tetramethylammonium hydroxide. Among the commercial baby food samples, 35 samples showed low iodine values (< 50 ng/g wet weight), while 8 samples showed markedly high iodine values (> 1000 ng/g wet weight). Significantly higher iodine values were observed in 15 samples composed of dishes cooked using kombu (a kind of kelp) than other samples. Among the homemade baby food samples, 12 samples brought very low iodine intake (< 1-24 µg/d), while 5 samples brought very high iodine intake (283-978 µg/d). These results indicate that intermittent high iodine baby food including dishes cooked using kombu contributes to sufficient iodine intake in Japanese infants.

Impact of seaweed intake on health

“…However, nutrients contained in seaweeds are basically calculated from the raw weight before cooking and processing, and most of the konbu was consumed as soup stock, not directly in its raw form. The net iodine intake in Japanese was estimated to be approximately 50% of the usual iodine intake 61 . An ecological study showed that iodine deficiency was associated with mortality from breast cancer 62 .…”