Towards ensuring the safety of vitamins and minerals.
Today, there is a clear need for a risk assessment for vitamins and minerals because the total daily intake for nutrients through regular food, fortified products (Functional Food) and supplements may very well reach critical levels for an individual consumer. Several expert panels of the European Union, the UK, Japan and China will publish their reports on this issue in the near future. The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine of the US/Canada has already published a new standard. The board has defined the so-called Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) as the highest level of daily intake that is likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects to almost all individuals in the general population. Their determination involves a multi-step risk assessment procedure on the basis of mainly human data. Several daily UL values that have already been published are of special interest, e.g. 1 mg folic acid, 50 microg vitamin D, 1 g vitamin E, 2 g vitamin C, 2.5 g calcium, 350 mg magnesium.
Walter
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P
Department of Biochemistry, University of Basel, Vesalianum, Vesalgasse 1, 4002, Basel, Switzerland. paul.walter@unibas.ch
D006801:Humans; D008903:Minerals / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014815:Vitamins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*
D008903:Minerals; D014815:Vitamins