Trace and major elements in food supplements of different origin: Implications for daily intake levels and health risksShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Toxicology reports, E-ISSN 2214-7500, Vol. 8, p. 1067-1080Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
As the use of food supplements increases, voices are being raised questioning the safety of these products. As acontribution to understanding the trace and major elemental composition of food supplements and their potential health risks, this study presents concentrations of 71 elements in 138 supplements, categorised intosynthetic products and three groups of products with natural ingredients. Concentrations were converted intoaverage daily doses (ADDs) and compared to tolerable daily intakes (TDIs). For elements where we found significant ADDs relative to the TDI a comparison was also made to the normal dietary intake. Our main findings arethat: 1) Most elements display highly variable concentrations in food supplements; more so than in normalfoodstuff; 2) For ten of the analysed elements some products rendered ADDs > 50 % of the TDI. Half of theelements were essential (Fe, Mn, Se, Mo, Zn), and as such motivated in food supplements. The other half (As, Pb,Cd, Al, Ni) represent non-essential and highly toxic elements, where the occurrence in food supplements ought tobe viewed as contamination. Although none of these toxic metals were declared on any product’s table ofcontent, several products gave high ADDs - in several cases even exceeding the TDIs; 3) The risk of reaching highADDs for the toxic elements is strongly associated with products that contain marine ingredients (e.g. algae,mussels etc), and to some degree products of terrestrial plant-based origin. The health of consumers wouldbenefit if food regulatory frameworks were updated to better address the risks of food supplements occasionallybeing contaminated with different toxic metals, for example by setting maximum permissible concentrations fora longer list of elements.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2021. Vol. 8, p. 1067-1080
National Category
Nutrition and Dietetics Pharmacology and Toxicology
Research subject
Natural Science, Food Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-103675DOI: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.04.012ISI: 000701996600006PubMedID: 34094882Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85106466833Local ID: 2021OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-103675DiVA, id: diva2:1557779
2021-05-272021-05-272023-03-30Bibliographically approved