Values, Daily

The Daily Value (DV) of a nutrient is the amount officially recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as safe or adequate for the average person on a 2000-calorie-a-day diet. (Exception: The Daily Value for protein does not apply to infants, small children, pregnant women, or nursing mothers. See Protein.) The Daily Value is used mainly as a reference on labels, to give a rough indication of a food's nutrient profile.

Daily Values should not be confused with Recommended Dietary Allowances or Adequate Intakes (AIs). RDAs and AIs are always keyed to an individual's age, sex, and reproductive state¾not to the population as a whole.

For several nutrients¾notably copper, zinc, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin E¾the Daily Value is much higher than the current RDAs. On the other hand, the Daily Value for potassium is much lower than the Adequate Intake. Reason: Daily Values are still based on the RDAs of 1968, when the government thought people needed more or less of those nutrients.

Daily Values exist for all nutrients covered by Diet Power except polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, trans fat, sugars, water, and alcohol. In those cases, the program has developed its own Diet Power Daily Value (DPDV) through reviews of scientific literature.

Diet Power uses DVs and DPDVs for two things:

• Filling in the "% DV" column when you record the absolute amount of a nutrient while adding a food to the dictionary. (See Food Dictionary, Adding Foods to.)
   

• Calculating the "% DV" column and the length of each nutrient's bar in a food's nutrient profile. (See Nutrient Profile, Viewing a Food's or Recipe's.)

To look up the Daily Value, Diet Power Daily Value, or Personal Daily Allowance of any nutrient, click its name on the list in Nutrients, Information on.

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Last Modified: 7/2/07