Vitamin and mineral supplements for the use of children on the German market: Products, nutrients, dosages

A market survey of vitamin and mineral supplements was carried out considering various points of purchase. 37 of 146 producers offered a total of 110 supplements marketed 'directly' (42%) or 'indirectly' (58%) for the use of children. These products contained 31 different nutrients, vitamins more frequently than minerals. The number of nutrients per product ranged from 1 (23%) to over 10 (13%), maximum 26, In most cases, the daily dosage recommended by producers reached from 100 to 200% of the reference doses for nutrition labelling for vitamins and from 50 to 100% for minerals. In total, the findings point to an abundancy of products, nutrients and dosages in the German market supply of vitamin and mineral supplements for the use of children. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.