[Use of vitamin and mineral supplements in Germany].

Recent regulations on supplement use in Europe address the necessity to include information on dietary intake to derive maximum amounts for vitamins and minerals in food supplements. Therefore, information about supplement use in Germany, as well as data on micronutrient intake (from supplements and traditional foods), in particular of persons who use several supplements, is examined in detail. As part of the representative German National Health Interview and Examination Study 1998, in the Nutrition Survey 4030 persons, aged 18-79 years, were asked about their dietary habits, including vitamin and mineral supplement use, in a personal computer-aided interview.