Vitamin C in Inuit Traditional Food and Womenʹs Diets

Vitamin C values for 37 traditional foods (TFs) of the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic and womenʹs intakes from TF and market food (MF) are reported. This is the first report on vitamin C values in several traditional food samples. There are a variety of rich sources of vitamin C from animal and plant food with the most notable among items with multiple samples being raw fish (Coregonus spp.) eggs (49.6±12.3 mg/100 g, mean± S.D.), raw whale (Delphinapterus leucas and Monodon monoceros) skin, locally termed “mattak”, (36.0±8.7 and 31.5±7.0 mg/10 g), caribou liver (Rangifer tarandus) (23.8±4.9 mg/100 g), ringed seal liver (Phoca hispida) (23.8±3.8 mg/100 g), and blueberries (Vaccinium uliginosum) (26.2±4.9 mg/100 g). Dietary analysis of 20–40-year-old womenʹs 24-h recalls for vitamin C as TF and MF revealed total mean intake of 60±8 mg/day (mean± S.E.). TF contributed only 20% of total intake, although there was significant seasonal variation (P<0.02). While rich sources of vitamin C are present as TF, the primary contemporary dietary sources of this nutrient are fortified MF.