Adjustment of the qualification of the dietary reference value for selenium

When advising on dietary reference values, the Health Council of the Netherlands judges, among other things, whether the reference values are relevant for public education on nutrition and for monitoring of the intake. The reference values that are relevant are those that are sufficiently scientifically substantiated. In its earlier advisory reports on dietary reference values for adults (2018) and for pregnant women (2021), the Health Council qualified the dietary reference value for selenium as poorly substantiated and not relevant for public education on nutrition or intake monitoring. There were no indications of insufficient selenium intake levels among the general Dutch population.

In the course of preparing its advisory report on dietary reference values for lactating women, the Health Council decided to re-evaluate selenium. Recent studies have shown that low selenium intake levels may occur in the Netherlands. The Health Council has now reached a different conclusion than in 2018 and qualifies the dietary reference value for selenium as relevant for public education on nutrition and intake monitoring. According to the Health Council, it is important to gain more insight into selenium intake levels and conduct further research into the relationship between the intake of selenium and optimal health and hence the dietary reference value.