A Brief History of Dietary Standards

A nutrient is a chemical whose absence from the diet for a long enough time
results in a specific change in health; we say that a person has a deficiency of
that nutrient.
A lack of vitamin C, for example, can eventually lead to scurvy.
Nutrients are not the only chemicals in food. They also include Phytochemicals
and Zoochemicals.
There are six classes of nutrients.
Water is the most important nutrient, and we cannot survive long without it.
Macronutrients - are those nutrients which are required in large quantities it
includes carbohydrate protein and fat.
Those nutrients required in small amounts include vitamins and minerals, so
they are called micronutrients.

In1938, Health Canada published dietary standards called Recommended Nutrient

Intakes (RNIs).

In the United States, the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) were first

published in 1941.

In the mid-1990s, the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of

Sciences began a partnership with Health Canada to make fundamental

changes in the approach to setting dietary standards and to replace the RDAs

and RNIs.

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 In 1997, the first set of DRIs was published. The DRIs suggest intake levels not

just for dietary adequacy, but also for optimal nutrition.

Dietary standards are sets of recommended intake values for nutrients. These

standards tell us how much of each nutrient we should have in our diets.

Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs)

A framework of dietary standards that includes Estimated Average

Requirement (EAR), Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), Adequate Intake

(AI), and Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL).

Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs)

The nutrient intake levels that meet the nutrient needs of almost all (97 to 98

percent) individuals in a life-stage and gender group

Recommended Nutrient Intakes (RNIs)

Canadian dietary standards that have been replaced by Dietary Reference Intakes.

Estimated Average Requirement (EAR)

The intake value that meets the estimated nutrient needs of 50 percent of

individuals in a specific life-stage and gender group.

For each nutrient, this requirement is defined using a specific indicator of

dietary adequacy. This indicator could be the level of the nutrient or one of its
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 breakdown products in the blood, or the amount of an enzyme associated with

that nutrient.

The EAR is used to set the RDA.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)

It is the daily intake level that meets the needs of most people (97 to 98 percent)

in a life-stage and gender group.

The RDA is set at two standard deviations above the EAR.

A nutrient will not have an RDA value if there are not enough scientific data

available to set an EAR value.

Adequate Intake (AI)

The nutrient intake that appears to sustain a defined nutritional state or some

other indicator of health (e.g., growth rate or normal circulating nutrient

values) in a specific population or subgroup.

AI is used when there is insufficient scientific evidence to establish an EAR.

AI values are determined in part by observing healthy groups of people and

estimating their dietary intake.

All the current DRI values for infants are AI levels because there have been too

few scientific studies to determine specific requirements in infants.

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 AI values for infants are usually based on nutrient levels in human milk, a

complete food for newborns and young infants.

Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (ULs)

The maximum levels of daily nutrient intakes that are unlikely to pose health

risks to almost all of the individuals in the group for whom they are designed.

% Daily value (%DV)

The % Daily Value (%DV) shows how much of a nutrient is in one serving of the food.

Example: The Daily Value for saturated fat is 20 grams (g), which equals 100% DV. If

the Nutrition Facts Label says one serving of a food contains 1.5 g of saturated fat,

then the %DV for saturated fat for this specific food is 8%. That means the food

contains 8% of the maximum amount of saturated fat that an average person should

eat in an entire day.

Using the %DV

Compare Foods: The %DV can be used to compare food products (remember to make

sure the serving size is the same)

To choose products that are higher in nutrients you want to get more of and lower in

nutrients you want to get less of.

As a general rule:

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5% DV or less of a nutrient per serving is low.

20% DV or more of a nutrient per serving is high.

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