VITAMIN C // ASCORBIC ACID

Supply situation

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. 

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).

A dietary surveillance in the U.S. concluded that nearly the entire U.S. population consumes a diet that is not on par with recommendations. People tend not to follow food-based dietary advice and tend to eat too much of what they should reduce and not enough of the foods that they are encouraged to eat (84).

Authored by Dr Peter Engel in 2010, reviewed and revised by Dr. Volker Elste on 22.05.2017