Nutrition surveys in several European countries, such as Austria (37), Ireland (38) and the Netherlands (39), suggest that only close to 50% of the population meet national intake recommendations for vitamin C.

A German survey in 2008 showed that about 30% of all men and women had a daily intake of vitamin C below the recommended level (40). Those most lacking in vitamin C showed a deficiency of about 50–60 mg.

In the U.K., the proportion of those not meeting national recommendations (40 mg/day) is approximately 20% of adults. More recent recommendations of 80 mg/day for vitamin C would not be met by 54% of adults (41).