AbstractFifty‐seven samples of 10 vegetables and cereal products from the Orkney Islands were analysed for iron, copper and zinc. Twenty‐seven samples of all foods except beremeal were also assayed for thiamin, pyridoxine, vitamin C and total folate. Copper was found to be low in comparison to published values and the levels of iron and zinc were marginally lower for some vegetables. Thiamin levels in most vegetables and in the local speciality bread, ‘bannocks’, were also lower than published figures. Possible explanations for these findings are di