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The European Food Safety Authority's Panel on contaminants in the food chain has set a reduced tolerable weekly intake (TWI)[1] for cadmium of 2.5 micrograms per kilogram of body weight (µg/kg bw), based on an analysis of new data. The TWI is the level at which adverse effects are not expected. Average dietary exposure to cadmium for adults across Europe is around this level. Some population groups - vegetarians, children, smokers and people living in highly contaminated areas - can have a higher level of exposure up to twice the TWI. However, the Panel concluded that even for these groups the risk of adverse effects would be very low. The Panel concluded that current exposure to cadmium at the level of the population should be reduced.

The panel selected to analyze the health claims is being criticized for not including the medical researchers whose work prompted intense scientific interest in the nutrient in the first place. "If you were publicly in favour of vitamin D, you were not included, and I find that outrageous," said Reinhold Vieth, a professor in the department of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto, and one of Canada's leading experts on the nutrient.