** ULs, which the FNB establishes for many nutrients, are the maximum daily intakes unlikely to cause adverse health effects. The FDA establishes a single DV for each nutrient for adults and children from age 4 years, and the DV is usually one of the highest RDAs or AIs for that nutrient. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) develops DVs to help consumers compare the nutrient contents of foods and dietary supplements within the context of a total diet. The FNB establishes AIs for nutrients when evidence is insufficient to develop an RDA intakes at this level are assumed to ensure nutritional adequacy. These values vary by age, sex, and nutrient. RDAs are the average daily level of intake of essential nutrients sufficient to meet the requirements of nearly all (97–98%) healthy individuals. *The Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine establishes RDAs and AIs. Some of these products might contain amounts of nutrients that are substantially above the DV, RDA, AI, or even UL. MVMs-such as those for energy, enhanced athletic performance, weight control, improved immune function, or eye health-often combine several vitamins and minerals with botanical and specialty ingredients, such as coenzyme Q10, probiotics, or glucosamine.

Manufacturers sometimes offer these MVMs in packs of two or more pills for users to take daily. Some MVMs contain amounts of some vitamins and minerals that are substantially higher than the DV, RDA, AI, or even, in some cases, the established Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL).** These MVMs might also include other nutrients and botanical ingredients.

Formulations for children, adult men and women, pregnant people, and seniors typically provide different amounts of the same vitamins and minerals to meet the needs of these populations. MVMs taken once a day that contain all or most vitamins and minerals, most in amounts that do not exceed the Daily Values (DVs), Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs), or Adequate Intakes (AIs) for these nutrients.* This fact sheet focuses primarily on these basic, broad-spectrum MVMs. One way to group them is as follows (Table 1): Table 1: Types of MVMs Basic (broad spectrum) Many types of MVMs, the focus of this fact sheet, are available in the marketplace. These products go by various names, including 'multis' and 'multiples,' and manufacturers determine the combinations and levels of vitamins, minerals, and other ingredients in them. Therefore, these terms refer to products that have widely varying compositions. MVM and MV supplements have no standard or regulatory definition, such as what nutrients they must contain or in what amounts. sales of all dietary supplements totaled an estimated $55.7 billion in 2020, including $21.2 billion for all supplements containing vitamins, minerals, or both, of which $8.0 billion was for MVMs and MVs. MVMs and MVs accounted for 14% of all purchases of supplements and 38% of all sales of vitamin and mineral supplements in the United States in 2019. MVMs, in particular, are popular supplements, currently taken by an estimated one-third of all adults in the United States, and one-quarter of children and adolescents take an MVM or MV. People in the United States have taken multi-vitamin/mineral (MVM) and multivitamin (MV) dietary supplements since the early 1940s, when the first such products became available.

For a reader-friendly overview of Multivitamin/mineral Supplements, see our consumer fact sheet on Multivitamin/mineral Supplements. This is a fact sheet intended for health professionals.

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