Beta Carotene deficiency looms

"We mustn't protect ourselves against consuming too much beta-carotene, but rather against consuming too little." This was the conclusion drawn by leading experts in the fields of medical and nutritional science at the 2nd Hohenheim Nutrition Conference in Stuttgart, Germany. Georg Lietz, Ph.D., of Newcastle University reported the general population in the United Kingdom and other European countries is not obtaining sufficient beta-carotene through diet alone, and thus cannot benefit from the essential health promoting functions offered by the vitamin A precursor. Vitamin supplements and foodstuffs enriched with beta-carotene can be a good and safe way to insure adequate vitamin A intake. Concerning the repeated discussion of the safety of beta-carotene, professor Hans K. Biesalski of the University of Hohenheim, Germany, explained the only potential for danger existed in the case of extremely high doses of supplements consumed by heavy smokers, although even for this segment of the population a daily consumption of up to 10 mg would still be harmless.