Daily Reference Values (DRVs)

The daily reference value (DRV) is a number of statistics assigned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the optimum diet, both in overall amount and in type. The DRV for adults and children over the age of 4, based on a diet of 2,000 calories a day suggests that about 30 percent of all calories can be fat (about 65 g), of which just a bit less than a third of it (20 g) should be saturated fat. Some 60 percent of the diet should consist of carbohydrates (300 g), with 10 percent consisting of protein (50 g). The diet should also contain 300 mg of cholesterol, 25 g of fiber, some 2,400 mg of sodium, and 3,500 mg of potassium.

DRVs have been important in food labeling, although many people only study them from the information on cereal packets, even though it appears on many other items of food. In Australia and New Zealand, DRVs are known as recommended dietary intake, although the U.S. Department of Agriculture does state categorically that DRVs are not the recommended amounts of nutrients that people should eat in one day but more the balance of the diet they should aim to have over a period of time.

Most of the nutritional information figures printed on food labels include the average size of servings, the number of servings in a particular package, and the nutritional information in regard to the quantity per serving, the percentage of the suggested daily intake per serving, and the quantity per 100 g, which may be larger or smaller than the serving size. For some foods that are generally eaten with something else, such as most people eating cereal with milk, figures are also given for the overall level of nutrients when the two are combined.

The use of DRVs allow people to assess whether their diet exceeds the amount of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, or carbohydrates that they should be eating, and serve as an important reference point for people dealing with dietary problems. In particular, most people play close attention to the fat level of products such as cookies, peanut butter, and potato chips, which vary considerably from brand to brand.