With all the fortified food options, shoppers may be getting several hundred times of the recommended daily amount of vitamins; and the Los Angeles Times say this may pose a health hazard.
Staff writer Elena Conis said products like Odwalla Blueberry B Monster and Emergen-C can cause vitamin levels to exceed 600 or even 1,000 times the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) recommendations and more isn’t always a good thing.
While she noted some studies suggest taking about twice the recommended amount of vitamin C could shorten the duration of colds, consuming much more than offers no benefits because vitamin C is water soluble. Any excess is emitted in urine. The potential side effects of consuming too much vitamin C include cramps, nausea and diarrhea.
Overconsumption of B vitamins can also pose a threat, she wrote. Too much vitamin B6 can cause reversible nerve damage, but several hundred times the recommended amount of B12 is harmless.
Excesses of fat-soluble vitamins, like vitamin A , get stored in body tissue, which can nausea and vomiting, blurry vision, lack of coordination and, eventually, liver damage.
Conis does conclude there's no evidence that vitamin toxicity has become more common as a result of increased consumption of heavily fortified foods.