Daily Value (DV)

A new term appearing on food labels, Daily Value is a new dietary reference value designed to help consumers use food label information to plan a healthy diet. Daily Values (DVs) comprise two sets of reference values for nutrients: Daily Reference Values (DRVs) and Reference Daily Intakes (RDIs). Only the Daily Value term will appear on the food label. The Daily Value serves as a basis for declaring on the label the percent of the DV for each nutrient that a serving of the food provides. For example, the Daily Value for fat, based on a 2,000-calorie diet, is 65 grams (g). A food that has 13 g of fat per serving would state on the label that the "percent Daily Value" for fat is 20 percent. The DV provides a basis for thresholds that define descriptive words for nutrient content, called descriptors, such as "high fiber" and "low fat." For example, the descriptor "high fiber" can be used if a serving of food provides 20 percent or more of the Daily Value for fiber— that is, 5 g or more. DRVs and RDIs have an important regulatory role. They serve as the basis for calculating percent Daily Values. DRVs are for nutrients for which no set of standards previously existed, such as fat and cholesterol. RDIs, on the other hand, replace the term "U.S. RDAs" (Recommended Daily Allowances), which were introduced in 1973 as a reference value for vitamins, minerals and protein in voluntary nutrition labeling. Despite the name change, the actual values (except the value for protein) will remain the same—at least for the time being. U.S. RDAs should not be confused with RDAs. The latter are short for Recommended Dietary Allowances, which are set by the National Academy of Sciences. FDA used the RDAs as the basis for setting U.S. RDAs (now called RDIs). The confusion caused by the similarity of those terms was one of the reasons for the switch to RDI.