Dietary Reference Values for vitamin B6

Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel  on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) derives Dietary Reference Values (DRVs) for vitamin B6. The Panel considers that plasma pyridoxal 50 -phosphate (PLP) concentration is the biomarker of status suitable for deriving DRVs for  vitamin B6. Considering that  a plasma PLP  concentration of  30 nmol/L,  as a population mean, is indicative of an adequate vitamin B6 status, the Panel proposes to use this cut-off value to set Average Requirements (ARs). Population  Reference Intakes (PRIs) are derived for  adults and children from ARs, assuming a coefficient of variation (CV) of 10%. For women, the AR and PRI are set at 1.3 and 1.6 mg/day. For men, the AR of 1.5 mg/day is derived by an allometric scaling from the AR for women, and a PRI of 1.7 mg/day is set. For all infants aged 7–11 months, an Adequate Intake of 0.3 mg/day is set, averaging the results of two extrapolation approaches based on an allometric scaling: upwards extrapolation from the estimated vitamin B6 intake of exclusively breastfed infants from  birth  to  6 months, and downwards extrapolation from  the ARs for  adults applying a growth factor. For all children, ARs are derived from adult ARs using an allometric scaling and growth factors. For children of both sexes aged 1–14 years, ARs range between 0.5 and 1.2 mg/day. For children aged 15–17 years, the Panel derives the same ARs as for adults. PRIs for children aged 1–17 years range  between 0.6 and  1.7 mg/day.  Extrapolation  of  ARs by  an allometric  scaling  considered differences in reference body weight. For pregnant and lactating women, additional requirements are considered, based on the  uptake of  vitamin B6 by the  fetal and maternal tissues and the  losses through breast milk, and PRIs of 1.8 and 1.7 mg/day, respectively, are derived.