Dietary intake of copper, chromium and zinc in Tarragona Province, Spain

The dietary intake of copper, chromium, and zinc from foods in Tarragona Province (NE Spain) was determined by means of two different methods: the total diet study and the duplicate diet study. In the total diet study, a total of 375 food samples were analyzed, whereas duplicates of food consumed weekly by 20 families were analyzed for copper, chromium and zinc concentrations. Pulses were the group with the highest levels of the three elements; vegetables and fruits which are basic items in the 'Mediterranean diet', contained low concentrations of these metals. Total intakes of copper, chromium and zinc were 1156.3, 124.6 and 7522.9 micrograms day-1, respectively. On the other hand, the total intake of the elements obtained through the duplicate diet study was 1119.8 micrograms day-1 for copper, 129.0 micrograms day-1 for chromium, and 6800.1 micrograms day-1 for zinc. The daily intake of copper and zinc by the population of Tarragona Province is lower than the usually recommended values, while the intake of chromium is closer to those values.