A balanced diet is one that provides adequate amounts of various nutrients to maintain health and well-being. Protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins, minerals and water are all nutrients. Each nutrient has a particular function in the human body. The amount of each individual nutrient needed to maintain an individual’s health is called the nutrient requirement. Nutrient requirements vary depending on age and gender. Level of physical activity, physiological status (such as pregnancy), dietary habits and genetic background are also important factors.
Dietary reference values (DRVs) is an umbrella term for a set of nutrient reference values that includes the average requirement (AR), the population reference intake (PRI), the adequate intake (AI) and the reference intake range for macronutrients (RI). These values guide professionals on the amount of a nutrient needed to maintain health in an otherwise healthy individual or group of people. DRVs also include the tolerable upper intake level (UL), which is the maximum amount of a nutrient that can be consumed safely over a long period of time.
DRVs are not nutrient goals or recommendations for individuals (see FAQs). They are used by policy makers in the EU and its Member States to issue recommendations on nutrient intake to consumers. DRVs are also used as the basis for information on food labels and for establishing dietary guidelines. Such guidelines can help consumers make healthy dietary choices.
DRVs are intended for healthy people. Those who suffer from diseases may have different needs. Health professionals provide guidance to individuals or groups with specific needs.
Latest
The publication of DRVs for sodium and chloride in September 2019 marked the end of ten years of work by EFSA’s nutrition scientists. This work started in 2009 after the European Commission asked EFSA to update values last set in the 1990s for macronutrients such as proteins and carbohydrates, and all vitamins and minerals.
Many EFSA scientists contributed to this achievement over the years. The following interviews tells their story.
Milestones
2019 The completion of DRVs for sodium and chloride mark the end of ten years of work by EFSA’s nutrition scientists.
Our assessment of dietary sugars is extended due to the high volume of datasets and studies to be collected, analysed and assessed.
2018 The DRV Finder is launched, an easy-to-use interactive tool that allows health professionals to make quick and easy calculations using EFSA’s DRVs.
A special issue on DRVs comes out in the EFSA Journal collecting all the DRVs published so far and an overview of EFSA’s work in this area, in particular all the numerical values by population groups.
EFSA’s draft plan for assessing the health effects of dietary sugars goes out for public consultation.
EFSA publishes an update of its scientific opinion on ULs for vitamin D in infants.
2017 Five Nordic countries ask EFSA to provide scientific advice on the daily intake of dietary sugars in food.
2013-2017 A series of DRVs for micronutrients (except ULs) are published, covering 14 vitamins and 13 minerals.
2012 Publication of ULs for calcium and vitamin D updating previous opinions from the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF).
2009-2012 A series of DRVs for macronutrients are published, covering water, fats, carbohydrates and dietary fibre, protein, energy.
2010 EFSA publishes a scientific opinion laying down the general principles for establishing DRVs and starts the review of DRVs for macro- and micronutrients established by the SCF in 1993.
EFSA assists public authorities in Member States with its opinion on food-based dietary guidelines that advises policy makers how to translate nutritional recommendations into messages to consumers about foods.
2006 EFSA and the SCF publish a report of their scientific opinions identifying possible adverse health effects of individual vitamins and minerals at intakes in excess of dietary requirements and, where possible, establishing tolerable upper intake levels (UL) for different population groups. The report also covers trace elements such as boron, nickel, tin and vanadium.
2005 EFSA initiates its review and update of the reference values for nutrient and energy intakes established in 1993 by the SCF.
EFSA's Role
EFSA gives independent scientific advice on nutrient intakes to EU risk managers and policy makers. Our advice provides an important evidence base to underpin nutritional policies, the setting of diet-related public health targets and the development of consumer information and educational programmes on healthy diets. Importantly, it is not our role to establish nutrition goals for populations or recommendations for individuals. Our scientific advice supports policy makers at national and EU level and health professionals who are responsible for this work.
In 2005, the European Commission asked EFSA to review and update the dietary reference values for nutrient and energy intakes established in 1993 by the Scientific Committee on Food (EFSA’s precursor). EFSA’s Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA Panel) laid the foundations for the task in a 2010 scientific opinion on the general principles for deriving and applying DRVs. The NDA Panel completed this work in 2019, producing a total of 34 scientific opinions that recommend DRVs for water, fats, carbohydrates and dietary fibre, protein, energy, as well as 14 vitamins and 15 minerals.
In addition, our scientists provide advice on the setting of tolerable upper levels of intake (UL) for vitamins and minerals (overview table). These values represent the highest daily intake of a nutrient over a lifetime that is unlikely to cause adverse health effects in humans. EFSA continues to receive ad hoc requests from the European Commission or Member States to review ULs for nutrients, such as vitamin D in infants or the on-going assessment of dietary sugars. ULs are used as a reference in EFSA’s evaluations of the safety of nutrient sources added to food supplements.
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