{"id":1545,"date":"2016-03-31T15:09:18","date_gmt":"2016-03-31T22:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/?p=1545"},"modified":"2016-05-13T12:05:31","modified_gmt":"2016-05-13T19:05:31","slug":"nutrition-facts-label","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2016\/03\/31\/nutrition-facts-label\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Nutrition Facts Label Can Lead You Astray"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FDA<\/a>On the back of every cereal box, frozen dinner, condiment bottle, and any other packaged food, you will find the Nutrition Facts label<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Introduced by the Food and Drug Administration over 25 years ago, the purpose of this labeling system is to help consumers make more informed food choices.<\/p>\n

Thus it would be natural to think you\u2019re covered for, say, vitamin C, if a product\u2019s Nutrition Facts label says it provides 100% of the Daily Value of vitamin C.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But you\u2019d be wrong.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nutrition Facts labels are required to have information about the nutrients in the food you are eating. Since many people don\u2019t know how much of a specific nutrient they need\u2014such as a particular vitamin or mineral\u2014the labels also include some information on that as well.\u00a0 This is known as the recommended Daily Value (DV), usually expressed as a percent, or %DV.<\/p>\n

%DVs were designed to help you reach the daily recommendations for all nutrients. Though hard to believe, the Daily Values are based on vitamin and mineral recommendations\u2026from 1968!<\/p>\n

Yes, you read that correctly. The last 50 years of nutrition research aren\u2019t on the Nutrition Facts label at all.\"Stores<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean the science hasn\u2019t been progressing and that no one is keeping track.\u00a0 The Institute of Medicine (IOM)<\/a>, a nonprofit group of independent experts who make policy recommendations, periodically reviews the latest scientific literature and sets (or adjusts) a value known as the Recommended Dietary Allowance, or RDA. If you are taking the RDA each day of a vitamin or mineral, it should be enough for almost all adults to avoid health problems from inadequacy<\/a>\u2014at least based on the current understanding of the scientific evidence.<\/p>\n

As the evidence gets better and more refined, RDAs change. If the data from a number of controlled trials show people need more or less of a particular nutrient to avoid health problems, the RDA will likely change. It is a system designed to keep us in better health.
\nFor reasons involving the convoluted regulations of government agencies<\/a>, when the law requiring Nutrition Facts labels was enacted in 1990, the %DVs on the label were based on the RDAs from 1968, despite several changes to the RDAs since that time.<\/p>\n

The RDA system is built to be responsive since the FDA\u2019s Daily Values (and Nutrition Facts labels) are stuck in the past.<\/p>\n

\"WomanNaturally, health professionals pay more attention to the RDA, but many consumers only look at the Nutrition Facts labels. So if you eat a product that gives you 100% of the DV of vitamin C (60 milligrams), a dietician would tell you that you are not getting enough. The Daily Value of vitamin C translates to only 50-80% of the RDA, depending on if you\u2019re an adult man or woman, pregnant, or a smoker. On the other hand, if a multivitamin Nutrition Facts label shows that it provides 100% of the DV of biotin (300 micrograms), you are actually getting 10 times the level<\/a> suggested by the IOM.<\/p>\n

On a side note, Nutrition Facts labels aren\u2019t required<\/em> to list any vitamins and minerals except vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and sodium. Why not the others? Because the FDA did not consider them vital for Americans. There are many arguments on how that is not in agreement with current scientific evidence.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s hope on the horizon.\u00a0 New revisions for the Daily Values on Nutrition Facts labels\u00a0are due out this year<\/a>\u00a0from the FDA.\u00a0 We hope these changes will help align the %DVs with the RDAs for vitamins and minerals recommended by the Institute of Medicine.<\/p>\n

But until that happens, the Linus Pauling Institute suggests people try to pay attention to the RDAs, and not base decisions on the %DV of vitamins and minerals listed in the Nutrition Facts labels.<\/p>\n

You can find LPI\u2019s recommendations for each micronutrient\u00a0(based on our analysis of the scientific evidence) in our Micronutrients for Health<\/a> brochure. This list states the RDAs for each vitamin and mineral, and highlights the few circumstances in which our opinion differs from that of the Institute of Medicine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the back of every cereal box, frozen dinner, condiment bottle, and any other packaged food, you will find the Nutrition Facts label. Introduced by the Food and Drug Administration over 25 years ago, the purpose of this labeling system is to help consumers make more informed food choices. Thus it would be natural to… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5337,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[582783],"tags":[582785,160036,582784,123729,165491],"class_list":["post-1545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healthy-living-tips","tag-labels","tag-multivitamins","tag-rda","tag-supplements","tag-vitamins"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":905,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2013\/12\/18\/multivitamins-miracles-important\/","url_meta":{"origin":1545,"position":0},"title":"Multivitamins are not miracles… but they are important.","author":"Alexander Michels, PhD","date":"December 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Should you stop taking multivitamin supplements as they have no apparent health benefit and may potentially be harmful? The Linus Pauling Institutes that reading headlines may bring you to the wrong conclusions as they\u00a0ignore the totality of the evidence from decades of nutrition research. Vitamins and minerals are needed by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LPI Take"","block_context":{"text":"LPI Take","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/lpi-take\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Multivitamins","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2013\/12\/Multivitamins.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1782,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2016\/06\/10\/linus-pauling-institute-director-reflects-nutrition-diet-optimum-health\/","url_meta":{"origin":1545,"position":1},"title":"Linus Pauling Institute Director Steps Down, Reflects on the Evolving Field of Diet and Optimum Health","author":"Anne Glausser","date":"June 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Nutrition has always been considered a \u201csoft science\u201d\u2014a field rife with studies showing associations but no firm causation.","rel":"","context":"In "Ask the Expert"","block_context":{"text":"Ask the Expert","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/ask-the-expert\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vegetables","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2016\/06\/vegetables-498842_1280-800x600.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2016\/06\/vegetables-498842_1280-800x600.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2016\/06\/vegetables-498842_1280-800x600.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2016\/06\/vegetables-498842_1280-800x600.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1898,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2017\/01\/31\/choosing-supplements-wisely\/","url_meta":{"origin":1545,"position":2},"title":"Q: I’ve been reading a lot lately about claims that vitamins in pill form are worthless and unreliable. Do you have a recommendation for where to buy worthy vitamin pills?","author":"Anne Glausser","date":"January 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Answer:\u00a0We don't make endorsements, but we can offer advice for choosing supplements wisely. It\u2019s important to remember that supplements are not always necessary and they are not regulated as rigorously as drugs, so it is largely up to consumers to determine a product\u2019s appropriateness, safety and potency. Below we offer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Supplement FAQs"","block_context":{"text":"Supplement FAQs","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/supplement-faqs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"supplement bottle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2017\/01\/vitamins-26622_1280-150x150.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1884,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2017\/01\/23\/vitamin-e-metabolic-syndrome\/","url_meta":{"origin":1545,"position":3},"title":"Millions of People with Metabolic Syndrome May Need More Vitamin E","author":"Anne Glausser","date":"January 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Research Also Uncovers a New, Better Way to Test for Vitamin E New research from Linus Pauling Institute Principal Investigator and\u00a0Ava Helen Pauling Professor\u00a0Maret Traber, Ph.D., has shown that people with metabolic syndrome need significantly more vitamin E \u2013 which could be a serious public health concern, in light of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nutrition"","block_context":{"text":"Nutrition","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/nutrition\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2017\/01\/5604663581_c38fdc245b_b-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":647,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2014\/01\/14\/keep-taking-your-vitamins\/","url_meta":{"origin":1545,"position":4},"title":"Keep Taking Your Vitamins","author":"freib","date":"January 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"An article by Paul Offit titled \u201cThe Vitamin Myth: Why We Think We Need Supplements\u201d\u00a0has been part of the media blitz surrounding so-called negative claims of vitamin and mineral supplements. 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