Selenium, food by food
Ranking · Selenium
Your thyroid uses it to make its hormones.
An adult is advised to get about 55 µg a day. ?
How we counted this
Health Canada’s Dietary Reference Intakes, adults 19–30. The word beside each food says how much of that one serving gives.
A milligram (mg) is a thousandth of a gram, and a microgram (µg) a thousandth of a milligram: 1,000 µg make 1 mg.
The plain words beside each food: “a lot” means one serving gives at least 20% of the daily amount, “some” at least 10%, “a little” at least 2%; below that it says “almost none”. Each row prints its percentage of the daily amount, rounded to a whole number, and the word is read from that printed percentage (a row at 9.6% prints 10% and reads “some”). The cut-offs are ours, one set for every page: 20% and 10% are borrowed from the US labelling terms “high” and “good source”, and applied to Health Canada’s daily amount; Health Canada’s own shopper rule says 15%, and we keep one number so a percentage never changes meaning (provisional: they may change in a later method version).
What it does: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, selenium fact sheet for health professionals. How much a day: Health Canada, Dietary reference intakes tables: Reference values for elements.
Most per serving: Pacific oysters, raw (96.3 µg), then Mussels, cooked and Brazil nuts, raw.
Listed amounts, not what your body absorbs. Where a human study measured absorption, the food’s page shows it. ?
How we counted this
Listed for 189 of the 198 preparations on this page (150 foods). The other 9 aren’t zero, just not listed: see “Not listed” below.
187 of them are ranked below, by what one serving gives; the other 2 list it but have no serving size on file, so they follow, per 100 g.
The 159 reviewed foods (229 preparations) are counted here, and raw and cooked spinach are two preparations of one food. Each row below is one preparation, and 198 of them are on this page. The other 31 are left out: 19 raw or dry forms of a food ranked as eaten (listed below) and 12 fortified foods. Imported foods are listed separately below, not ranked. Every amount here is copied from the national food databases, as published. A serving’s weight is shown rounded, and the amount is worked from its exact weight, so a row can differ slightly from weight times the per-100 g figure.
- 1
A lot96.3µg77 µg / 100 g - 2
A lot89.6µg89.6 µg / 100 g - 3
A lot84.1µg280.4 µg / 100 g - 4
A lot82.4µg82.4 µg / 100 g - 5
A lot78µg36.3 µg / 100 g - 6
A lot64µg64 µg / 100 g - 7
A lot54.4µg54.4 µg / 100 g - 8
A lot51.6µg51.6 µg / 100 g - 9
A lot49.5µg49.5 µg / 100 g - 10
A lot41.4µg41.4 µg / 100 g - 11
A lot40.8µg40.8 µg / 100 g - 12
A lot37.6µg37.6 µg / 100 g - 13
A lot37.3µg67.8 µg / 100 g - 14A lot36.1µg65.7 µg / 100 g
- 15
A lot32.8µg32.8 µg / 100 g - 16
A lot30.8µg30.8 µg / 100 g - 17
A lot29µg52.7 µg / 100 g - 18
A lot28.5µg28.5 µg / 100 g - 19
A lot27.6µg27.6 µg / 100 g - 20
A lot25.9µg23.5 µg / 100 g - 21A lot24.6µg19.7 µg / 100 g
- 22
A lot23.8µg79.3 µg / 100 g - 23
A lot23.1µg23.1 µg / 100 g - 24
A lot22.6µg41 µg / 100 g - 25
A lot20.4µg135.9 µg / 100 g - 26
A lot19.7µg35.8 µg / 100 g - 27
A lot19.4µg25.8 µg / 100 g - 28
A lot18.9µg34.3 µg / 100 g - 29
A lot17µg20.05 µg / 100 g - 30
A lot17µg28.4 µg / 100 g - 31
A lot13.4µg5.4 µg / 100 g - 32
A lot13µg21.6 µg / 100 g - 33
A lot12.1µg9.7 µg / 100 g - 34
A lot11.4µg20.7 µg / 100 g - 35
A lot11.4µg20.7 µg / 100 g - 36
A lot11.2µg9.7 µg / 100 g - 37
Some10.5µg7.5 µg / 100 g - 38
Some10.3µg34.4 µg / 100 g - 39
Some10.3µg34.4 µg / 100 g - 40
Some9.03µg30.1 µg / 100 g - 41
Some8.49µg28.3 µg / 100 g - 42
Some8.28µg55.2 µg / 100 g - 43
Some8.28µg55.2 µg / 100 g - 44
Some8.16µg3.1 µg / 100 g - 45
Some8.12µg5.8 µg / 100 g - 46
Some8.01µg26.7 µg / 100 g - 47
Some8.01µg26.7 µg / 100 g - 48Some7.91µg9.3 µg / 100 g
- 49
Some7.62µg25.4 µg / 100 g - 50
Some7.61µg50.7 µg / 100 g - 51
Some7.57µg8.9 µg / 100 g - 52
Some7.15µg13 µg / 100 g - 53
Some6.95µg3.6 µg / 100 g - 54
Some6.64µg7.3 µg / 100 g - 55Some6.58µg2.5 µg / 100 g
- 56
Some6.2µg20.67 µg / 100 g - 57
Some6.16µg20.52 µg / 100 g - 58
Some6.06µg20.2 µg / 100 g - 59
Some5.6µg6.2 µg / 100 g - 60
Some5.34µg17.81 µg / 100 g - 61
Some5.24µg5.8 µg / 100 g - 62
A little5.19µg6.1 µg / 100 g - 63
A little5.16µg34.4 µg / 100 g - 64
A little4.5µg15 µg / 100 g - 65
A little3.92µg2.8 µg / 100 g - 66
A little3.8µg3.3 µg / 100 g - 67
A little3.38µg22.5 µg / 100 g - 68
A little3.36µg6.1 µg / 100 g - 69
A little3.22µg3.7 µg / 100 g - 70
A little3µg10 µg / 100 g - 71
A little2.94µg2.1 µg / 100 g - 72
A little2.93µg2.8 µg / 100 g - 73
A little2.79µg9.3 µg / 100 g - 74
A little2.58µg8.6 µg / 100 g - 75
A little2.55µg1.7 µg / 100 g - 76
A little2.54µg3.1 µg / 100 g - 77
A little2.53µg2.2 µg / 100 g - 78A little2.22µg1.15 µg / 100 g
- 79
A little2.2µg4.4 µg / 100 g - 80
A little1.89µg1.8 µg / 100 g - 81
A little1.8µg4.5 µg / 100 g - 82
A little1.54µg1.1 µg / 100 g - 83
A little1.47µg4.9 µg / 100 g - 84
A little1.41µg4.7 µg / 100 g - 85
A little1.4µg3.5 µg / 100 g - 86
A little1.36µg1.6 µg / 100 g - 87
A little1.36µg1.6 µg / 100 g - 88
A little1.28µg1.5 µg / 100 g - 89
A little1.28µg1.5 µg / 100 g - 90
A little1.23µg4.1 µg / 100 g - 91
A little1.23µg1.3 µg / 100 g - 92
A little1.2µg3 µg / 100 g - 93
A little1.09µg1.2 µg / 100 g - 94
A little1.08µg3.7 µg / 100 g - 95
A little1.06µg3.5 µg / 100 g - 96
A little1.02µg1.2 µg / 100 g - 97
A little1.02µg1.2 µg / 100 g - 98
A little0.98µg0.7 µg / 100 g - 99
A little0.88µg0.7 µg / 100 g - 100
A little0.85µg1 µg / 100 g - 101
A little0.85µg1 µg / 100 g - 102
A little0.84µg0.6 µg / 100 g - 103Almost none0.77µg0.9 µg / 100 g
- 104
Almost none0.77µg0.9 µg / 100 g - 105Almost none0.77µg0.9 µg / 100 g
- 106
Almost none0.77µg0.9 µg / 100 g - 107
Almost none0.68µg0.8 µg / 100 g - 108
Almost none0.63µg0.9 µg / 100 g - 109
Almost none0.61µg4.1 µg / 100 g - 110
Almost none0.6µg2 µg / 100 g - 111
Almost none0.6µg0.4 µg / 100 g - 112
Almost none0.6µg0.7 µg / 100 g - 113Almost none0.6µg0.7 µg / 100 g
- 114
Almost none0.6µg0.7 µg / 100 g - 115
Almost none0.56µg0.4 µg / 100 g - 116
Almost none0.55µg0.5 µg / 100 g - 117
Almost none0.51µg0.6 µg / 100 g - 118
Almost none0.51µg0.6 µg / 100 g - 119
Almost none0.51µg0.6 µg / 100 g - 120
Almost none0.51µg0.6 µg / 100 g - 121
Almost none0.49µg3.2 µg / 100 g - 122
Almost none0.48µg0.6 µg / 100 g - 123Almost none0.45µg3 µg / 100 g
- 124
Almost none0.43µg0.5 µg / 100 g - 125
Almost none0.43µg0.5 µg / 100 g - 126
Almost none0.42µg0.3 µg / 100 g - 127
Almost none0.39µg9.8 µg / 100 g - 128
Almost none0.39µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 129
Almost none0.36µg2.4 µg / 100 g - 130
Almost none0.34µg0.4 µg / 100 g - 131
Almost none0.33µg0.3 µg / 100 g - 132
Almost none0.32µg2.3 µg / 100 g - 133Almost none0.28µg0.4 µg / 100 g
- 134
Almost none0.28µg0.2 µg / 100 g - 135
Almost none0.26µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 136
Almost none0.26µg0.3 µg / 100 g - 137
Almost none0.26µg0.3 µg / 100 g - 138
Almost none0.26µg0.3 µg / 100 g - 139
Almost none0.25µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 140
Almost none0.24µg0.6 µg / 100 g - 141
Almost none0.24µg0.6 µg / 100 g - 142
Almost none0.22µg0.2 µg / 100 g - 143
Almost none0.22µg0.2 µg / 100 g - 144
Almost none0.18µg0.6 µg / 100 g - 145
Almost none0.17µg0.2 µg / 100 g - 146
Almost none0.17µg0.2 µg / 100 g - 147
Almost none0.16µg0.8 µg / 100 g - 148
Almost none0.16µg0.2 µg / 100 g - 149
Almost none0.14µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 150
Almost none0.14µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 151
Almost none0.14µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 152
Almost none0.14µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 153
Almost none0.12µg0.4 µg / 100 g - 154
Almost none0.11µg0.7 µg / 100 g - 155
Almost none0.1µg1 µg / 100 g - 156Almost none0.1µg1 µg / 100 g
- 157
Almost none0.09µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 158
Almost none0.09µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 159
Almost none0.09µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 160
Almost none0.08µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 161
Almost none0.08µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 162
Almost none0.08µg0.5 µg / 100 g - 163
Almost none0.01µg0.1 µg / 100 g - 164
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 165
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 166
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 167
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 168
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 169
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 170
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 171Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g
- 172
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 173
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 174
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 175
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 176
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 177
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 178
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 179
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 180Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g
- 181
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 182
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 183
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 184
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 185
Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g - 186Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g
- 187Almost none0µg0 µg / 100 g
Not ranked in this view
These list Selenium but have no serving size on file yet.
Not listed
The databases don’t list Selenium for these foods: left out, not counted as zero.
Not yet reviewed · shown per 100 g, not per serving
Straight from the national databases, not yet checked, so not ranked. The list can include dried foods, spices and fortified products that a review would set aside.
No serving size yet, so shown per 100 g, even under “per serving”.
Not compared with the upper level: with no serving size, a figure for 100 g of a powder or a concentrate says nothing about what anyone eats. Choose an amount under “per 100 g” to compare one.
- Sea lion, Steller, liver (Alaska Native) · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)693 µgper 100 g
- Game meat, Indigenous, beluga, muktuk, boiled · Canadian Nutrient File 2026650 µgper 100 g
- Nuts, mixed nuts, oil roasted, without peanuts, with salt added · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)422 µgper 100 g
- Game meat, Indigenous, narwhal, skin (muktuk), raw · Canadian Nutrient File 2026400 µgper 100 g
- Pork, fresh, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, cooked, braised · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)312 µgper 100 g
- Sea lion, Steller, kidney (Alaska Native) · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)274 µgper 100 g
- Lamb, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, cooked, braised · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)219 µgper 100 g
- Spices, mustard seed, ground · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)208 µgper 100 g
- Game meat, Indigenous, beluga, muktuk, raw · Canadian Nutrient File 2026200 µgper 100 g
- Smelt, dried (Alaska Native) · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)194 µgper 100 g
- Egg, white, dried, stabilized, glucose reduced · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)192 µgper 100 g
- Pork, fresh, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, raw · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)190 µgper 100 g
- Beef, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, cooked, simmered · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)168 µgper 100 g
- Egg, whole, dried · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)165 µgper 100 g
- Mollusks, oyster, Pacific, cooked, moist heat · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)154 µgper 100 g
- Fish, cod, Atlantic, dried and salted · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)148 µgper 100 g
- Turkey, young hen, skin only, cooked, roasted · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)144 µgper 100 g
- Beef, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, raw · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)141 µgper 100 g
- Egg, yolk, dried · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)139 µgper 100 g
- Nuts, mixed nuts, oil roasted, without peanuts, lightly salted · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)139 µgper 100 g
Ranked as eaten. Where a food is also listed in a form people eat, these forms are left out: raw meat, poultry, fish and eggs (their cooked forms are ranked), dry grains and legumes, and frozen vegetables before cooking. Raw oysters stay: they have no other form.
Which 19 are left out?
- raw ground beef
- Beef liver, raw
- Beef steak, top loin, raw
- raw chicken breast
- Chicken thigh, raw
- Chicken liver, raw
- Cod, raw
- raw eggs
- dry lentils
- raw mackerel
- dry rolled oats
- dry pasta
- dry whole-wheat pasta
- frozen peas
- Pork chop, raw
- Pork sausage, raw
- dry quinoa
- raw farmed salmon
- Ground turkey, 93% lean, raw
12 fortified foods are left out: makers add vitamins and minerals in amounts that vary by brand, so check the label for selenium: Pasta, cooked · White bread, toasted · White bread · Flour tortillas · Breakfast cereal · Soy drink, unsweetened, fortified · Cakes · Crackers · Cookies · Pies · Almond drink, unsweetened, fortified · Oat drink, unsweetened, fortified
Running low, and too much
Running low
On its own, low selenium rarely makes anyone ill, but in some populations it may bring on Keshan disease (a heart-muscle disease first found in parts of China where the soil is low in selenium) and Kashin-Beck disease (a joint disease that starts in childhood), and it can make an infant’s iodine deficiency worse. People in selenium-poor regions, on kidney dialysis or living with HIV are more likely to fall short.
Too much
Too much selenium (selenosis) causes hair loss, brittle or lost nails, garlic breath, a metallic taste, rash, nausea, diarrhea and tiredness. The upper level for adults is 400 µg a day. That is Health Canada’s level; in 2023 the European Food Safety Authority set a lower one, 255 µg a day. Brazil nuts contain particularly high amounts.
Sources: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, selenium fact sheet for health professionals (2025-09-04); EFSA NDA Panel (2023), tolerable upper intake level for selenium, EFSA Journal 21(1):7704 (2023) · Upper levels (adults 19–30): Health Canada, Dietary reference intakes tables: elements (2025-11-19)