Clinical Pharmacist and Master’s student in Clinical Pharmacy with research interests in pharmacovigilance, behavioral interventions in mental health, and AI applications in clinical decision support. Experience includes digital health research with Bloomsbury Health (London) and pharmacovigilance practice in patient support programs. Published work covers drug awareness among healthcare providers, postpartum depression management, and patient safety reporting. 
Clinical Pharmacist and Master’s student in Clinical Pharmacy with research interests in pharmacovigilance, behavioral interventions in mental health, and AI applications in clinical decision support. Experience includes digital health research with Bloomsbury Health (London) and pharmacovigilance practice in patient support programs. Published work covers drug awareness among healthcare providers, postpartum depression management, and patient safety reporting. What was reviewed
This chromium III dietary intake assessment reviewed how much trivalent chromium (Cr(III)) people are likely to consume from food (and scenarios adding food supplements) and whether those exposures approach a health-based limit relevant to setting supplement maximums. The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) performed the work at the request of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, relying primarily on European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) exposure datasets because Norway lacked chromium food-composition data. The report distinguishes Cr(III) (dominant in foods and supplements) from hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI), more typical for drinking water) and highlights key analytical and toxicological assumptions used in exposure assessment, including EFSA’s conservative approach of treating “total chromium” measured in foods as Cr(III).
Who was reviewed
Rather than enrolling new participants, the chromium III dietary intake assessment synthesized population dietary surveys and occurrence data assembled by EFSA across Europe, spanning standard life-stage groups above 1 year of age. The intake estimates cover toddlers (1 to <3 years), other children (3 to <10 adolescents (10 <18 adults (18 <65 and older (65+), using both average median intakes high-end (95th percentile) exposure estimates. vkm also considered how different consumer sensitivities might matter when setting supplement maximum limits, with toddlers consistently representing the highest relative group because of lower body weight higher intake per kg weight. < p>
Most important findings
For HMTC-style decision-making, the central result is that typical and even high-end Cr(III) dietary exposures—plus plausible supplement doses—remain far below EFSA’s health-based benchmark, supporting a risk-management framework focused on product labeling, dose control, and chromium speciation rather than expecting frequent “UL exceedances.” Median dietary intakes reported from EFSA-based estimates were roughly 28.6–44.0 µg/day in toddlers, 55.4–76.2 µg/day in other children, and 63.0–84.0 µg/day in adults, with VKM scenario modeling showing that adding 50–300 µg/day from supplements still stayed well under the EFSA tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 300 µg/kg body weight/day, including at the 95th percentile; the tightest margin occurred for toddlers at the highest supplement scenario.
| Critical point | Details |
|---|---|
| Benchmark for safety comparisons | EFSA CONTAM derived a TDI of 300 µg/kg bw/day for Cr(III) from a 2-year rodent study NOAEL, using a large uncertainty factor because of developmental/reproductive toxicity uncertainty. |
| Typical dietary exposure is low | Across European surveys, mean chronic exposure ranged roughly 0.6 to 5.9 µg/kg bw/day, and 95th percentile exposure up to about 9.0 µg/kg bw/day, with toddlers and children highest. |
| Absolute intake estimates for program communication | Median dietary intakes were approximately 28.6–44.0 µg/day (toddlers), 55.4–76.2 µg/day (children 3–10), 73.6–98.1 µg/day (older adolescents), and 63.0–84.0 µg/day (adults). |
| Supplement maximum scenarios vs TDI | Even with +300 µg/day supplements, modeled totals stayed >9× below TDI in toddlers at P95 and ~16–48× below TDI in other groups, indicating substantial safety margins at these dose caps. |
| Speciation and measurement caveats | Food chromium data often do not discriminate Cr(III) vs Cr(VI), and EFSA assumed food chromium is Cr(III) because foods are reducing media; uncertainty remains for some water-prepared foods consumed immediately. |
Key implications
For HMTC, this chromium III dietary intake assessment supports setting conservative supplement dose ceilings (such as 50–300 µg/day) with a clear regulatory rationale anchored to EFSA’s TDI, while emphasizing certification requirements for verified elemental chromium content, consistent daily-dose labeling, and method transparency around speciation limits. Industry applications include using these margins to justify compliant formulations and to prioritize higher-sensitivity groups (notably toddlers) in risk communication and accidental overuse scenarios. Research gaps that matter to certification include country-specific occurrence data, foods-as-consumed contributions from stainless steel contact, and better long-term human evidence at higher chronic intakes, so practical recommendations are to require validated analytical methods, document raw-material chromium variability, and encourage speciation-aware testing where drinking-water contributions could plausibly affect products.
Citation
VKM. Assessment of dietary intake of chromium (III) in relation to tolerable upper intake level. Opinion of the Panel on Nutrition, Dietetic Products, Novel Food and Allergy of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment. VKM Report 2018:06. Published March 14, 2018. ISBN 978-82-8259-303-8.
Chromium (Cr) is a widely used metal with significant public health implications, especially in its toxic hexavalent form. The HMTC program’s stricter regulations ensure that chromium exposure is minimized, safeguarding consumer health, particularly for vulnerable populations.
