Choosing a New Basis for Nutrition Labeling

One goal of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act is to convey to consumers nutrition information they can readily understand and apply to their total daily diet. The Daily Values (DVs) and %DVs used in nutrition labeling were created to fulfill this purpose. However, they need to be updated, since they are based on the 1968 Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs), the 1989 Diet and Health Report, and other dated dietary recommendations.

The DVs consist of Daily Reference Values (DRVs) and Refer…