Dietary supplements

Citation

(1999), "Dietary supplements", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 99 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.1999.01799bab.004

Dietary supplements

Dietary supplements

A survey has been carried out by MAFF and the Department of Health Joint Food Safety and Standards Group on 100 different dietary supplements because previous investigations had shown that certain products can contain elevated levels of metals, such as lead, which can be harmful if intakes are excessive. The products were tested for 29 different metals and other elements including arsenic, barium, cadmium, gold, mercury and lead. The results showed that most of the products on sale do not give rise to any health concerns for consumer safety apart from seven products which contained lead and/or arsenic at concentrations above the general legal limits for these contaminants in food. The manufacturers of these products have been asked to investigate these elevated levels and to ensure that they are reduced. However there are no significant health risks to consumers as their exposure to lead and arsenic from these products at their recommended dosage are small compared with exposures to these elements from the normal diet and are well below maximum safety limits. The survey also included some zinc supplements. The independent advisory Committee on Toxicity Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment considered intakes of zinc in the UK diet were adequate and supplementing the diet with zinc preparations is unnecessary and unwise unless there is good evidence of deficiency. This is because excessive levels may result in anaemia.

MAFF has also funded research into metals and other elements in the whole diet and has tested a variety of foods. The report shows, for example, that levels of lead in draught beer have fallen considerably since 1983 and are now generally low.