TY - JOUR

T1 - Intake of selected nutrients from foods, from fortification and from supplements in various European countries

AU - Flynn, Albert

AU - Hirvonen, Tero

AU - Mensink, Gert B M

AU - Ocké, Marga C

AU - Serra-Majem, Lluis

AU - Stos, Katarzyna

AU - Szponar, Lucjan

AU - Tetens, Inge

AU - Turrini, Aida

AU - Fletcher, Reg

AU - Wildemann, Tanja

N1 - (Ekstern)

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

N2 - BACKGROUND: Recent European Union regulation requires setting of maximum amount of micronutrients in dietary supplements or foods taking into account the tolerable upper intake level (ULs) established by scientific risk assessment and population reference intakes.OBJECTIVE: To collect and evaluate recently available data on intakes of selected vitamins and minerals from conventional foods, food supplements and fortified foods in adults and children. Intake of calcium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, zinc, folic acid, niacin and total vitamin A/retinol, B(6), D and E was derived from nationally representative surveys in Denmark, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. Intake of high consumers, defined as the 95th percentile of each nutrient, was compared to the UL.RESULTS: For most nutrients, adults and children generally consume considerably less than the UL with exceptions being retinol, zinc, iodine, copper and magnesium. The major contributor to intakes for all nutrients and in all countries is from foods in the base diet. The patterns of food supplements and voluntary fortification vary widely among countries with food supplements being responsible for the largest differences in total intakes. In the present study, for those countries with data on fortified foods, fortified foods do not significantly contribute to higher intakes for any nutrient. Total nutrient intake expressed as percentage of the UL is generally higher in children than in adults.CONCLUSION: The risk of excessive intakes is relatively low for the majority of nutrients with a few exceptions. Children are the most vulnerable group as they are more likely to exhibit high intakes relative to the UL. There is a need to develop improved methods for estimating intakes of micronutrients from fortified foods and food supplements in future dietary surveys.

AB - BACKGROUND: Recent European Union regulation requires setting of maximum amount of micronutrients in dietary supplements or foods taking into account the tolerable upper intake level (ULs) established by scientific risk assessment and population reference intakes.OBJECTIVE: To collect and evaluate recently available data on intakes of selected vitamins and minerals from conventional foods, food supplements and fortified foods in adults and children. Intake of calcium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, zinc, folic acid, niacin and total vitamin A/retinol, B(6), D and E was derived from nationally representative surveys in Denmark, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. Intake of high consumers, defined as the 95th percentile of each nutrient, was compared to the UL.RESULTS: For most nutrients, adults and children generally consume considerably less than the UL with exceptions being retinol, zinc, iodine, copper and magnesium. The major contributor to intakes for all nutrients and in all countries is from foods in the base diet. The patterns of food supplements and voluntary fortification vary widely among countries with food supplements being responsible for the largest differences in total intakes. In the present study, for those countries with data on fortified foods, fortified foods do not significantly contribute to higher intakes for any nutrient. Total nutrient intake expressed as percentage of the UL is generally higher in children than in adults.CONCLUSION: The risk of excessive intakes is relatively low for the majority of nutrients with a few exceptions. Children are the most vulnerable group as they are more likely to exhibit high intakes relative to the UL. There is a need to develop improved methods for estimating intakes of micronutrients from fortified foods and food supplements in future dietary surveys.

KW - Micronutrients

KW - EU legislation

KW - Upper safe levels

KW - Adults

KW - Children

U2 - 10.3402/fnr.v53i0.2038

DO - 10.3402/fnr.v53i0.2038

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 20011225

VL - 53

JO - Scandinavian Journal of Nutrition/Naringsforskning, Supplement

JF - Scandinavian Journal of Nutrition/Naringsforskning, Supplement

SN - 1102-6510

M1 - 2038

ER -