Iodine concentration in ultra-high temperature pasteurized cow's milk. Applications in clinical practice and in community nutrition]

Changes to dairy cow feeding have made milk a very important food source of iodine in several European countries and in USA. We aimed to measure the iodine content in ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk, the most widely consumed milk in Spain and in the south-west of Europe.Every month, throughout 2008, UHT milk samples of commercial brands available in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country, Spain) were collected and their iodine content was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography, according to official method 992.22 of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists International.The average (SD) iodide content and median (P25-P75) of standard UHT milk samples (n=489) were 197.6 (58.1) and 190 (159-235) μg/L, respectively. There were no significant differences between the iodide content in whole, semi-skimmed and skimmed milk (P=.219). The average iodide concentration and median in organic UHT milk (n=12) were 56.4 (8.6) and 55 (50.5-61.5) μg/L, figures that are much lower than those found in standard milk (P<.0001).Standard UHT milk available in our food-retailing outlets constitutes a very important source of iodine. One glass of standard UHT milk (200-250mL) provides an average amount of 50μg of iodine. This amount represents around 50% of the iodine intake recommended during childhood or 20% of the iodine intake recommended for pregnant and lactating women.