The shelf talks as if a birthday came with its own formula. "Best for a woman of 40." "For a man of 40." We sell an Adults pouch, and we still do not think 40 is a category.
EFSA does not set a "40+" line. The pack that does is usually selling a birthday.
The short answer
- There is no "over 40" supplement category in the EU. Age on the lid is marketing, unless the formula actually changes something that requirements change.
- Requirements do not jump on the morning of a fortieth birthday. A few of them shift across adult life, slowly.
- Vitamin D stays a latitude and season problem. B12 absorption from food can become less reliable later on. Iron needs are not the same at every stage of adult life.
- Pocket Adults is the same idea as Kids and Teens, at higher amounts of the same nutrients. It is not a 40+ formula, and it still contains no iron.
- If what you want is iron, fish oil, or a named life-stage product, we are a poor match.
Forty is not a formula
EFSA sets reference values by sex and by life stage, not by a round number on a cake. That overview is here. Directive 2002/46/EC does not create a fortieth-birthday SKU either.
If a pack says "40+" and the panel is the same adult multinutrient as the unmarked one beside it, you are paying for a birthday. How to read that panel is here.
Vitamin D stays a latitude and season problem
Vitamin D. Skin makes less of it indoors, at 25 and at 45 alike. How much also depends on latitude, season, clothes and skin tone. EFSA's 15 µg a day from age 1 assumes little sun. That is a population figure, not a photograph of July in Faro.
The NHS advises a daily vitamin D supplement for adults in autumn and winter in the UK. That is UK public advice about season and skin, not about turning 40, and it is not Portuguese or Spanish law. SNS 24 in Portugal talks about food, ordinary time outdoors, and a 10 µg drop in the first year of life. Spain's Ministry of Health has said population-wide screening is not advised. We live in Portugal. Winter vitamin D is a real question at 25 and at 45. A round number on a cake is not.
B12, iron, magnesium, the B vitamins, zinc
B12. The vitamin is in animal foods. Absorption from food can become less efficient later in adult life, especially where stomach acid has fallen. That pattern is documented more clearly in older adults than at 40. Calling 40 the year B12 "runs out" is further than the evidence goes. Checking what you eat, and asking a GP if animal foods have dropped, is not. EFSA's 2015 B12 opinion is the adult 4 µg adequate intake.
Iron. Requirements are not flat across adult life. They are higher in the years of monthly blood loss than they often are later. A multinutrient that includes iron "for women over 40" may be solving last decade's problem, or this decade's, and an article cannot tell which. Ours includes none, which at least does not guess. The iron pages are here and here.
Magnesium, the B vitamins, zinc. Adult adequate intakes from EFSA do not leap at 40. If dinner has shrunk, that is a diet change, not a birthday. The leftover-at-the-sink version of that week is here.
Packs in this aisle talk about youth, glow, balance. Forty is still not a formula. The same quiet nutrient jobs are true at 28.
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Where My Daily Pocket fits
Of course we would like people in their forties to buy the Adults pouch.
What we will not do is invent a life-stage they have entered. Pocket Adults is a higher-dose version of the same daily idea, not a reformulation for turning 40.
| Formula | Vitamin D3 | Magnesium | B12 | Iron | Who it is not for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pocket Kids | 25 µg | 100 mg | 25 µg | None | Adults. A 40+ birthday. |
| Pocket Teens | 35 µg | 150 mg | 100 µg | None | Adults. |
| Pocket Adults | 35 µg | 200 mg | 100 µg | None | A 40+ SKU. Iron. Omega-3. Pregnancy as prenatal care. |
Adults also carries vitamin C 150 mg, zinc 10 mg, iodine 100 µg, K2 120 µg, B6 3 mg. No extra iron. No omega-3. Nothing built around a named life stage, and no language that pretends otherwise.
If what you want is iron, or fish oil, or a product built around a named life stage, we are a poor match. A blood test and a specific second product will beat a birthday label. What a food supplement even is, and why two bottles often duplicate, is here.
What we would check first
- Ignore "40+" on the lid unless the panel is genuinely different.
- Add up every bottle already in the house.
- Keep vitamin D as a season and latitude question, whatever the birthday.
- If animal foods have dropped, look at B12 on purpose.
- If you are considering iron, that is a GP and a result, not a multinutrient.
FAQ
Do I need a different multinutrient after 40?
Not because of the birthday. Look at what actually moved: season and skin for vitamin D, animal foods for B12, iron only with a result.
Is Pocket Adults a 40+ formula?
No. It is the adult version of the same daily powder. Higher amounts, same idea.
Does it contain iron for women over 40?
No. None of the three formulas. That decision belongs with a blood test.
What about vitamin D in Portugal after 40?
EFSA's figure is 15 µg a day from age 1, for little sun. Winter in Porto is not winter in Cork, and a desk week in August is not a beach week. Age 40 does not rewrite the sky.
Can I use Adults as a prenatal?
No. If you are pregnant, speak to the person already seeing you. Ours is the wrong pack for that job.
Sources
- EFSA, dietary reference values
- EFSA, dietary reference values for vitamin D, 2016
- EFSA, dietary reference values for vitamin B12, 2015
- EFSA, dietary reference values for iron, 2015
- NHS, vitamin D
- SNS 24, Vitamina D
- Ministerio de Sanidad, vitamin D, 2025
- What is a food supplement?
- You fed everyone. What did you eat?
About the authors
Lina is a co-founder of My Daily Pocket and is certified in nutrition. Stanislava is a co-founder. They write the Knowledge Hub together.
Last reviewed: 14 October 2026.
Food supplements should not replace a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. No supplement is a substitute for a varied, balanced diet. Stay within the dose on the pack. This page does not replace a GP. If you are pregnant, on medicines, or a child has a medical condition, speak to a professional.
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