Halogen and chalcogen
Scientific facts on iodine and on selenium, each presented on its own — quoted exclusively in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 432/2012.
On to the guideOn the left is the element the ocean distributes. In the middle is the element the subsoil dictates. On the right is the rule under which both entries are quoted on this page — one beneath the other and never merged.
Iodine has atomic number 53 and belongs to the halogens. Part of the reserve dissolved in seawater passes into the gas phase at the water surface, is carried inland and deposited again with precipitation. How much of it reaches a given region depends above all on the distance from the coast.
Selenium, with atomic number 34, sits in the same main group as sulfur and behaves similarly in chemical terms. It reaches the soil from the weathering parent rock; plants take it up via transport routes actually intended for sulfate. The content of a field is therefore first and foremost a geological quantity.
The Union list assigns exactly one nutrient to each authorized wording. That the two entries read identically apart from the element name does not make them a joint statement: they were applied for separately, assessed separately and entered separately. Anyone who merges them leaves the scope of what is permitted.
Whether a food contains much or little of a trace element is usually settled long before the kitchen. For iodine and for selenium these decisive points even lie in entirely different places — once in the atmosphere, once in the subsoil.
By far the largest reserve of iodine lies in seawater. A small share leaves the water surface, is carried over land by the wind and deposited with rain and snow. Because this transport diminishes with distance, inland farm soils carry less iodine than areas near the coast. Ice-age erosion has additionally reduced the reserve of some Central European soils.
A large part of the intake here therefore comes not from the soil but from two deliberate decisions: iodized table salt in the kitchen and bakery, and supplemented feed in dairy farming. Both are subject to labeling and can be read on the packaging.
Selenium occurs in several oxidation states, and this determines how mobile it is in the soil. In well-aerated, rather alkaline soils, selenate predominates, which plants take up readily. In acidic or waterlogged soils there is more selenite, which binds to iron and aluminum oxides and thereby becomes harder to reach.
For this reason the levels of the same crop vary considerably from region to region. Grain from areas with selenium-rich parent rock delivers many times what grows on a neighboring, acidic field. Figures from nutrient tables are therefore ranges, not properties of a variety.
The register entry for iodine reads: „Iodine contributes to normal thyroid function“ — In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 432/2012. The entry for selenium reads: „Selenium contributes to normal thyroid function“ — In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 432/2012. Both entries stand here one after the other and not in a single joint sentence.
They are addressed to the general population with a sufficient supply. A statement about individual findings, about symptoms or about the course of an illness is not contained in the entries. Everything else on this page is a description of origin, level and labeling — and therefore editorial text without a health claim.
The full version carries both origin routes through to the label: level tables for thirty-six foods, the derivation of the two reference amounts, a section on the significant-amount condition, and the source references for both entries in the Union register.
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This page describes the origin, levels and labeling of two trace elements. It provides no diagnosis, states no personal intake amount and does not replace a medical consultation. Anyone considering a supplement or already taking medicines should clarify that beforehand at a medical or pharmacy practice.
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