Bread — A Dietary Source of Large Quantities of Iodine

Abstract

DURING an outpatient study of iodine intake and excretion, we encountered cases of very high iodine intakes (1100 to 1300 microgm. per day),¹ and we were not able to identify the sources of iodine in those diets. Subsequently, we learned that some bakeries add iodate to commercial bread mix as a "dough conditioner."² According to Food and Drug Administration regulations the maximum permissible quantity of any conditioner in dough is 0.0075 per cent by weight, or a possible 75 microgm. of iodine per gram of bread.³ To determine if bread was an actual or merely a potential source of iodine, . . .