Buying chromium: µg, form and combination products
Futures Nutrition Editorial Team · 13 August 2026
Buying chromium: µg, form and combination products
The short answer: three details decide it. First, how much chromium a daily portion contains — what is declared is always the element, not the compound. Second, which of the six chromium sources permitted across Europe is used. Third, whether another product on your shelf also supplies chromium; the guidance figure that quantities are measured against applies to the total. Percentages on the front of the pack and words like "high strength" contribute nothing to the decision.
Chromium is an inconspicuous item on the shelf: small amounts, low prices, little argument. That is exactly why the pack is rarely read — and exactly why it is worth knowing once which details are legally required and which sit next to them voluntarily.
What has to be on every pack
Food supplements in Germany are governed by the food supplements ordinance (Nahrungsergänzungsmittelverordnung, NemV). Its § 4 lists what has to appear on the packaging in addition to the general labelling requirements of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011:
| Mandatory detail | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| the designation "food supplement" | NemV § 4 (1) |
| the names of the nutrient categories that characterise the product | NemV § 4 (2) no. 1 |
| the recommended daily amount, expressed in portions | NemV § 4 (2) no. 2 |
| "The stated recommended daily intake must not be exceeded." | NemV § 4 (2) no. 3 |
| a statement that the product is not a substitute for a balanced and varied diet | NemV § 4 (2) no. 4 |
| a statement to store out of the reach of young children | NemV § 4 (2) no. 5 |
| the amount of nutrient per daily portion as an average value from analysis | NemV § 4 (3) no. 1 |
| the percentage of the nutrient reference value | NemV § 4 (3) no. 2 |
The last two rows are the ones that matter for comparison: amount and percentage always relate to the daily portion stated on the label, not to one tablet and not to 100 grams. Anyone holding two packs side by side therefore has to check first whether the daily portion means one tablet in both cases or three.
If one of these details is missing, that is not a nicety but a labelling defect — and a usable first filter, before quantities even come into it.
The amount: µg of chromium, not µg of compound
For minerals, the nutrition declaration refers to the element. "200 µg chromium" means 200 µg of chromium, whether the tablet contains chromium picolinate, chromium chloride or chromium yeast.
It becomes misleading when a manufacturer instead writes the compound in large type on the front. "500 µg chromium picolinate" is not 500 µg of chromium but around 62 µg — the chromium share of that compound is about 12 %. In such cases the binding figure sits on the back in the nutrition table, not on the front in the eye-catching field. What separates the individual forms is set out in Chromium forms: picolinate, chloride and yeast.
Once the figure is found, a second question helps: how is it to be judged? For chromium several values sit next to one another, and they mean different things.
| Value | Amount per day | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Significant amount | 6 µg | the lower limit from which chromium may be named at all and linked to an authorised claim (15 % of the reference value) |
| Nutrient reference value (NRV) | 40 µg | the calculation basis for the percentage on the label, not a recommendation |
| D-A-CH estimated value | 30–100 µg | orientation range for adolescents from 15 years and adults |
| BfR maximum level proposal | 60 µg | recommendation from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment to the legislator, per recommended daily portion |
| EFSA guidance value | 250 µg | additional intake from supplements and fortified foods at which there are no health concerns |
Two things stand out. First, the reference value is low at 40 µg, which is why percentages for chromium quickly become three-digit: 200 µg works out at 500 % NRV. Second, the BfR proposal and the EFSA guidance value are far apart — the BfR allocates half of the 250 µg to supplements and subtracts an uncertainty factor of 2, because several chromium-containing products can be taken alongside each other. Binding European maximum levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements are provided for by Directive 2002/46/EC, but they have never been set. Products both above and below the BfR proposal are therefore on sale.
The form: six are permitted, two are common
Which chromium compounds may be used at all is governed by Annex II of Directive 2002/46/EC: chromium(III) chloride, chromium(III) sulphate, chromium nitrate, chromium(III) lactate trihydrate, chromium picolinate and chromium-enriched yeast. All of them mean trivalent chromium, chromium(III). On the shelf you meet practically only two — picolinate and yeast.
For the buying decision that means: if the ingredients list names a compound that does not appear there, the product does not belong in European trade. Chromium(III) nicotinate, for instance, turns up regularly in the study literature but is not in Annex II. With yeast products the check is tied to the raw material anyway: Regulation (EU) No 119/2014 prescribes 230–300 mg chromium per kilogram of the dried commercial form and at most 0.2 % hexavalent chromium of total chromium. That cannot be recalculated from the label.
Only the yeast has a documented bioavailability advantage, and even that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) expressly restricted to the preparation it examined. Between the remaining forms the difference is small: absorption of trivalent chromium is in the range of 0.1 to 3 per cent overall.
Combination products: add up, do not guess
Chromium is a typical passenger. It sits in multivitamin-and-mineral combinations, in products marketed around metabolism, and in sports products — usually in two-digit microgram amounts, because the threshold for naming it is low at 6 µg. Anyone who buys a single-nutrient chromium product and takes a multivitamin alongside it has two sources without having looked for them.
The guidance value of 250 µg refers to the total from all supplements and fortified foods, not to a single tub. Adding up is straightforward, because the mandatory declaration under § 4 (3) NemV uses the same basis in every product — the amount per daily portion:
| Example | Chromium per daily portion |
|---|---|
| multivitamin combination | 40 µg |
| single-nutrient chromium product | 200 µg |
| fortified drink, 0.5 l | 20 µg |
| Total | 260 µg |
The figures are calculated, not measured — they only show how quickly three inconspicuous entries exceed the guidance value. The practical consequence is not a warning but a sum: lay the labels side by side, add them up, drop one source if necessary. When and with what the tablet is taken makes no difference to the total — what matters on that is covered in How to take chromium: timing, meals and intervals.
Ingredients list, unit count, price per day
The ingredients list is short for chromium, and that is a usable sign. As a rule it names a bulking agent, the chromium compound and an anti-caking agent — a tablet with an active amount in the microgram range needs no more.
For price comparison the printed weight is useless; the comparison runs via how long the pack lasts. Unit count divided by the daily amount gives the number of days, the pack price divided by those days gives the price per day. A tub of 180 tablets at one tablet a day lasts half a year — a pack of 60 tablets at three tablets a day lasts twenty. The same pack size can therefore differ by a factor of nine.
Our Chromium 200 µg is an example of the simple case: one tablet a day with 200 µg of chromium as chromium picolinate, which is 500 % of the nutrient reference value; 180 tablets accordingly last 180 days. The ingredients list has three entries — bulking agent cellulose, chromium picolinate, anti-caking agent magnesium salts of fatty acids. The amount is above the BfR proposal of 60 µg and below the EFSA guidance value of 250 µg for additional intake.
How chromium fits in among the other trace elements is shown by the category Minerals; all chromium products sit in the category Chromium.
What the pack promises — and what it is allowed to say
For chromium exactly two health claims are authorised, and in this wording: Chromium contributes to normal macronutrient metabolism. Chromium contributes to the maintenance of normal blood glucose levels. (Regulation (EU) No 432/2012). Both require 6 µg of chromium per daily portion.
Where such a claim is used, Article 10(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 requires four further pieces of information on the labelling: a statement on the importance of a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, the quantity of the food and pattern of consumption required, where appropriate a statement addressed to people who should avoid the food, and a warning for products that could pose a health risk if consumed to excess.
Conversely, quite a lot is expressly prohibited. Article 12 of the same regulation bans, among other things, claims about the rate or amount of weight loss. A chromium pack that advertises kilograms or weeks is therefore not offending against good taste but against applicable law. Food supplements are not a substitute for a balanced and varied diet and a healthy lifestyle.
Frequently asked questions
How do I tell how much chromium is actually in it? From the nutrition table on the back. It gives the amount per daily portion as an average value from analysis, along with the percentage of the nutrient reference value. A statement about the compound on the front — say "chromium picolinate 500 µg" — is a different number and not comparable.
Is a high-strength product better? "High strength" is not a defined term. An amount can only be judged sensibly against the reference figures: 6 µg as the threshold for naming it, 30 to 100 µg as the estimated value for intake, 60 µg as the BfR proposal for supplements, 250 µg as the EFSA guidance value for additional intake from all sources.
Do I have to count the chromium in my multivitamin? Yes, if it is declared there. The guidance value refers to the total from food supplements and fortified foods. Both labels state the amount per daily portion, which is what makes them addable.
Does the chromium form matter for the authorised claims? No. The two claims apply to the nutrient, not to a particular compound. The only requirement is that an authorised chromium source from Annex II of Directive 2002/46/EC is used and that the daily portion supplies at least 6 µg of chromium.
Sources: German food supplements ordinance (NemV) § 4 (labelling requirements, wording of the warning, declaration per daily portion and as a percentage of the reference value); Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII (nutrient reference value for chromium 40 µg, significant amount 15 %); Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, Article 10(2) and Article 12 (accompanying information for health claims; prohibition of claims on the rate or amount of weight loss); Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 (official wording of the authorised chromium claims); Directive 2002/46/EC, Annex II, replaced by Regulation (EC) No 1170/2009 (authorised chromium sources), and Regulation (EU) No 119/2014 (specification for chromium-enriched yeast); German Nutrition Society, reference values for nutrient intake — chromium (estimated value 30–100 µg from 15 years); EFSA ANS Panel, EFSA Journal 2010;8(12):1882 and 8(12):1883 (guidance value of 250 µg for additional intake); EFSA ANS Panel, EFSA Journal 2012;10(11):2951 (bioavailability of chromium-enriched yeast, restriction to the preparation examined); SCF (2003), Opinion on the Tolerable Upper Intake Level of Trivalent Chromium (absorption 0.1–3 %); German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, maximum level proposals for chromium in foods including food supplements (2021): 60 µg per recommended daily portion; chromium share of chromium picolinate calculated from the molar mass; composition, ingredients list and recommended intake according to the label of the product named.
