We measured daily dietary Cr intake in southern Spain by sampling duplicate diets for seven consecutive days in different population groups. Cr was determined by electrothermal atomization–atomic absorption spectrometry. The samples were mineralized in a digestion block with HNO3, HClO4 and V2O5. A total of 161 duplicate diets from twenty-three subjects were analysed, and mean levels of Cr intake ranged from 9·39 to 205·16 μg/d. Mean Cr intake (100 μg/d) was similar to levels found for most other countries, and was within the range recommended by the National Research Council for a safe and adequate daily intake (50–200 μg/d). Chromium intake correlated significantly with energy, protein and carbohydrate intake, and with the daily intake of Zn, Fe, Mg, K, Na, Ca and nicotinic acid in the diets analysed.
