Selenium is an essential mineral, too much or too little of which
can have severe consequences for human health. Low soil levels in
Europe mean food grown and consumed within Member States
does not always provide sufficient dietary intakes. Dietary supplementation
is one possible solution to providing this element.
However, both Polish and EU law on dietary supplements, which
are treated as foodstuffs, do not oblige producers to provide information
about the composition and form of compounds in their
product. This study shows the declared values for total selenium
content often differ from actual content. Furthermore, the label
and information attached to the dietary supplement do not constitute
a full or reliable source of information for consumers.