Abstract
ABSTRACTVitamin D3, vitamin D2, 25‐hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3], and 25‐hydroxyvitamin D2 [25(OH)D2]constitute the vitamin D activity in food. In general, vitamin D activity in food depends on the food's fat content, the feed the animals have been fed, and the animal's exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) light. There are many gaps in our knowledge of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D in food, including the amount present in different types of food, and the amount we process in our daily dietary intake. We aimed to assess the vitamin D vitamers in food (eggs, milk, dairy products, chicken, veal, beef, and pork) on the Danish market using accredited analytical methods. We then combined these data with existing Danish data, as well as with the information from the Danish Dietary Survey to estimate the dietary intake of vitamin D3 and of 25(OH)D3 by Danes. We report the level of vitamin D in 10% minced pork from free‐range pigs slaughtered in summer as 1.39 μg vitamin D3/100 g and 0.40 μg 25(OH)D3/100 g, which are significantly higher amounts (p < 0.001) than in early spring. The levels of vitamin D2 and 25(OH)D2 are usually <0.05 μg/100 g, though in beef they are up to 0.14 μg/100 g. 25(OH)D3 accounts for up to 100% in veal and 8% in fat from free‐range pigs. In the Danish diet, the share of 25(OH)D3 is 24% for children (4–17 years) and 18% for adults (18‐75 years). Changes in animal‐feeding strategy in the agriculture sector could change the share of 25(OH)D3 to 11% and 12% if extra vitamin D3 is added to the feed, and the animals are exposed to sunlight or UVB lightlight. Replacing vitamin D3 by 25(OH)D3 in the feed may result in a share of 25(OH)D3 of 52% and 40%, respectively, in children and adults. These estimates are based on the assumption that vitamin D3 and 25(OH)D3 contribute equally to the vitamin D activity. © 2020 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Highlights
Vitamin D3, vitamin D2, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-OHD3) and 25hydroxyvitamin D2 (25-OHD2) constitute the vitamin D activity in foods
Until the structure of the vitamin D metabolites 25-OHD3 and 25-OHD2 was settled by the use of mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry [1,2], the vitamin D activity in foods was regarded to be the sum of the content of Vitamin D3 (vitD3) and vitamin D2 (vitD2)
No significance difference was found between the four types of eggs for either vitD3 (p=0.538) or 25-OHD3 (p=0.121), though there is a trend towards a higher content of 25-OHD3 in eggs from free-range hens
Summary
Vitamin D3 (vitD3), vitamin D2 (vitD2), 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-OHD3) and 25hydroxyvitamin D2 (25-OHD2) constitute the vitamin D activity in foods. The aim was firstly to establish and extend the information for the content of vitamin D metabolites in food (eggs, milk, dairy products, chicken, veal, beef, and pork) on the Danish market, and investigate relevant association to the content of fat and feeding system. All analyses for vitamin D vitamers were performed accredited according to ISO17025:2005 (eggs, milk, dairy products, chicken) or ISO17025:2017 (veal, beef and pork) in our laboratory at the Technical University of Denmark. Content of vitamin D in foods at the Danish market were estimated as Scenario 1: The information available for vitD3 and 25-OHD3 in the Danish foods today [28] updated by data published in this paper, and for farmed trout and salmon [33,34], and for pork liver [11]. All statistical analyses were carried out using Excel 2016, Microsoft, USA
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