Fortify bread with selenium to fight off cancer, urge experts

By Fiona Macrae
09th September 2009

Britons could lead longer, healthier lives if our wheat and bread was fortified with selenium, scientists believe. The mineral has been linked to a host of health benefits from boosting resistance against flu and fighting off cancer, to being more fertile and living longer. It may also help keep people mentally sharp into old age. But British soil is not naturally rich in selenium and most people eat just half amount the need each day.

Adding small amounts of it to the fertiliser used for the wheat that goes into bread production could quickly boost levels, the British Science Festival heard. In fact, adding just three to four slices of selenium-enriched bread a day into a normal diet would give men their recommended 75micrograms of selenium a day. Women would obtain the advised 60, studies at the Government-funded Rothamsted agricultural research institute suggest.

Researcher Professor Steve Mcgrath said that enriching the soil, rather than the flour itself, would not require any new regulations, although a nationwide drive would need Government input. He said: ‘It may not reach all sectors, it may be niche parts of the market, but it would be better for public health to have it more widespread.

‘The use of trace amounts of selenium-containing fertiliser to biofortifiy UK wheat could easily restore daily dietary intake of selenium to recommended levels, which should be of benefit to human health.’ Supplements are expensive and easy to forget to take each day, while selenium-rich foods such as Brazil nuts, kidney and shellfish  which can be hard to work into the diet. Professor Margaret Rayman, a selenium expert from Surrey University, said: ‘There are lots of people who just never eat these foods.

‘Everybody eats cereals, so that’s the more sensible approach.’