Dietary Reference Intake

Dietary Reference Intakes are nutrient intake standards used to assess and plan diets for healthy people. They include values for adequacy, recommended intake, and upper limits.

Estimated Average Requirement: The daily intake estimated to meet the requirement of half the healthy people in a specified life-stage and sex group. It anchors the Recommended Dietary Allowance and helps estimate how many people in a group have inadequate intake.
Dietary assessment: The measurement and evaluation of food and nutrient intake in individuals or groups. Comparing usual intake with reference values helps identify possible inadequacy or excess.
National Academy of Sciences: A United States nonprofit institution established to advise the government on science and technology. Its committees produced the early recommended dietary allowances that preceded the DRI system.
Daily Value: A reference amount used on United States food labels to help consumers compare nutrient content with a daily benchmark. Unlike most DRIs, Daily Values are standardized label benchmarks rather than values tailored to life-stage groups.
Adequate Intake: A recommended intake level used when evidence is insufficient to establish an Estimated Average Requirement. It supplies a planning benchmark when available data cannot support an RDA.
Nutritional epidemiology: The study of how diet and nutrition relate to health and disease in populations. Researchers use reference values to interpret nutrient intake distributions and define exposures.
Recommended Dietary Allowances: A series of nutrient intake recommendations developed by the United States National Academy of Sciences, beginning in 1941. The DRI framework expanded this earlier system beyond single recommended allowances.
Reference Daily Intake: A United States food-labeling reference value used to set nutrient amounts and Daily Values for selected vitamins and minerals. It is a labeling standard derived from nutrient recommendations, not the full DRI framework.
Tolerable Upper Intake Level: The highest average daily nutrient intake likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects for nearly all people in a specified group. It marks a safety boundary, not a target intake.
Nutrition labeling: The presentation of nutritional information on food packaging or menus. Label reference values translate nutrient quantities into standardized daily percentages.

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