EFSA Publishes Reference Values for Vitamin C and Manganese

At the behest of the European Commission, the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA Panel) has published population reference intakes (PRIs) for vitamin C and adequate intakes (AIs) for manganese “as part of its ongoing work on Dietary Reference Values (DRVs).” Basing its conclusions on the quantity of vitamin C that balances metabolic vitamin C losses in healthy adults, the scientific opinion on vitamin C proposes (i) an average requirement (AR) of 90 mg/day and a PRI of 110 mg/day for men; (ii) an AR of 80 mg/day and a PRI of 95 mg/day for women; and (iii) a PRI of 20 mg/day for infants aged 7-11 months. For children and adolescents, the NDA Panel has set PRIs ranging from 20 mg/day for children aged 1-3 years, to 100 and 90 mg/day for boys and girls aged 15-17 years. It also notes that pregnant women should consume an additional 10 mg/day of vitamin C above the PRI for non-pregnant women, while lactating women should consume an additional 60 mg/day to cover vitamin C losses in breast milk.

For manganese, the NDA Panel has set an AI of 3 mg/day for all adults, including pregnant and lactating women, and an AI ranging from 0.02 mg/day to 0.5 mg/ day for infants aged 7-11 months. In addition, the scientific opinion sets manganese AIs for children and adolescents “using isometric scaling and reference body weights for the respective age groups.” Although there are no biomarkers available to assess manganese intake or status, the NDA Panel notes that nuts, chocolate, cereal-based products, crustaceans and mollusks, peas and beans, and fruit “are rich sources of manganese,” “an essential dietary mineral which is a component of a number of metalloenzymes involved in amino acid, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism.” See EFSA News, November 4, 2013.