The intake recommendations (D-A-CH reference values) of the German Nutrition Society (DGE) presented below are aimed at healthy people of normal weight. They do not refer to the supply of sick and convalescent people. Individual requirements may therefore be higher than the DGE intake recommendations (e.g., due to dietary habits, consumption of stimulants, long-term medication, etc.).
Recommended intake
| Age | Iron | |
| mg/day | ||
| m | wa | |
| Infanteb | ||
| 0 to under 4 monthc, d | 0,5 | |
| 4 to under 12 months | 8 | |
| Children | ||
| 1 to under 4 years | 8 | |
| 4 to under 7 years | 8 | |
| 7 to under 10 years | 10 | |
| 10 to under 13 years | 12 | 15 |
| 13 to under 15 years | 12 | 15 |
| Adolescents and adults | ||
| 15 to under 19 years | 12 | 15 |
| 19 am under 25 years | 10 | 15 |
| 25 to under 51 years | 10 | 15 |
| 51 to under 65 years | 10 | 10 |
| 65 years and older | 10 | 10 |
| Pregnant | 30 | |
| Breastfeeding tea | 20 | |
Nonmenstruating women who are not pregnant or not breastfeeding: 10 mg/day
except for immature infants
cEstimated value
dAn iron requirement does not exist until 4 months of age as a result of the amount of iron given to the newborn by the placenta as Hb iron (hemoglobin iron).
cThis information applies to both breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding women after birth to compensate for losses during pregnancy.
In the course of the standardization of European regulations, valid Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA) were issued in the European Union (EU) and made mandatory for nutrition labeling in 1990 in Directive 90/496/EEC. An update of this directive took place in 2008. In 2011, the RDA values were replaced by NRV values (Nutrient Reference Value) in Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011. The NRV values indicate the amount of vitamins, minerals and trace elements that an average person should consume daily to meet their needs.
| Trace element | NRV |
| Iron | 14 mg |
Caution. An NRV is not an indication of maximum amounts and upper limits. The NRV values also do not take into account gender and age – see above under recommendations of the German Nutrition Society (DGE) e. V..
