American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 17, 73-77, Copyright © 1965 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Nature and Availability of Iodine in Fish

¹ From the University Department of Medicine, Gardiner Institute, Western Infirmary, Glasgow, Scotland

In fillets of plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) and haddock (Gadus aeglefinus) the entire content of iodine was found to be present in inorganic form; no thyroid hormone could be detected. Significant losses of iodine occurred when fillets were cooked. An average of 58 per cent of iodine was lost from the fish on boiling, mainly by diffusion of iodine into the water, but some by fragmentation of small portions of fish. The corresponding losses after grilling and frying were 23 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.

Absorption of iodine from I¹³¹-labeled plaice was determined in ten subjects with normal intestinal function. Iodine absorption in all was virtually complete with less than 1 per cent of the ingested I¹³¹ being recovered from the feces.