The European Food Safety Authority, EFSA has since 2002 developed evaluations for the EU parliament on the safety of a variety of supplements.
In 2002, EFSA evaluated the upper safe limit for intake of vitamin D to be 50 micrograms daily for adults. It is this limit EFSA has been asked to reevaluate based on a series of new research findings. EFSA is basing, among others, their evaluation on two studies of men who daily consumed between 234 and 275 microgram vitamin D a day without gaining an increased content of calcium in the blood, which is a symptom of an overdose of vitamin D.
To guard against possible uncertainties in these studies, EFSA has proposed that the safe limit is set to 100 microgram daily, which is a significant increase in the previous limit.
Existing limit values are still valid
In European countries the recommended daily allowance (RDA) is around 5 micrograms for adults and 5-10 micrograms for children and elderly people. If the new recommendations from EFSA are approved by the EU Commission it can mean a significant change in the European recommendations.
EFSA's proposal is as follows:
| Age children | Upper level safe for ingestion (UL) for the vitamin D (µg / day) |
|---|---|
| 0-1 years | 25 micrograms |
| 1-10 years | 50 micrograms |
| 11-17 years | 100 micrograms |
| Adults ≥ 18 years (including pregnant and nursing) | 100 micrograms |
Source: EFSA Journal 2012; 10 (7): 2813
August 2012
