Risk assessment of "other substances" – L-Carnitine and L-Carnitine-L-tartrate. Opinion of the Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids, Materials in Contact with Food and Cosmetics of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety

Abstract

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (VKM) has, at the request of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA), assessed the risk of 1500 mg/day of L-carnitine and 2250 mg/day of L-carnitine-L-tartrate in food supplements. L-carnitine occurs naturally in foods and is endogenously synthesised. L-carnitine-L-tartrate is synthesised commercially, and it dissociates into L-carnitine and tartaric acid in the gastrointestinal tract. Based on the included literature there was no evidence indicating that age affects sensitivity towards L-carnitine, L-carnitine-L-tartrate or tartaric acid. Therefore, in this risk characterisation the same tolerance level as for adults was assumed for children and adolescents (adjusted for body weight). VKM concludes that a dose of 1500 mg of L-carnitine per day, which is equivalent to a dose of 2250 mg of L-carnitine-L-tartrate per day, is unlikely to cause adverse health effects in adolescents (14 to <18 years), whereas intake at this level in children (10 to < 14 years) may represent a risk of adverse health effects. The tartaric acid exposure from this dose of L-carnitine-L-tartrate is unlikely to cause adverse health effects.