Some of the nutrients that appear on nutrition labels deserve special attention. These include calcium, trans fat, protein and sugar.
Calcium: Look at the %DV for calcium on food packages so you know how much one serving contributes to the total amount you need per day. Remember, a food with 20%DV or more contributes a lot of calcium to your daily total, while one with 5% DV or less contributes a little.
Experts advise adult consumers to consume adequate amounts of calcium, that is, 1,000mg or 100%DV if you take in 2,000 calorie a day. This advice is often given in milligrams (mg), but the nutrition label only lists a % DV for calcium.
For certain populations, experts have special advice. They advise that adolescents, especially girls, consume 1,300mg (130%DV) of calcium daily and post-menopausal women consume 1,200mg (120%DV) of calcium daily. The DV for calcium on food labels is 1,000mg.
Don't be fooled. Always check the label for calcium because you can't make assumptions about the amount of calcium in specific food categories. Example: the amount of calcium in cow’s milk, whether skim or whole, is generally the same per serving, whereas the amount of calcium in the same size yogurt container (8oz) can vary from 20-45 %DV.
Equivalencies
30% DV = 300mg calcium = one cup of cow’s milk
100% DV = 1,000mg calcium
130% DV = 1,300mg calcium
Nutrients Without a %DV: Trans Fats, Protein, and Sugars:
Note that Trans fat, Sugars and, Protein do not list a %DV on the nutrition label.
Trans Fat: Experts could not provide a reference value for trans fat nor any other information that FDA believes is sufficient to establish a Daily Value or %DV. Scientific reports link trans fat (and saturated fat) with raising blood LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels, which increases your risk of coronary heart disease, a leading cause of death in the US.
Important: Health experts recommend that you keep your intake of saturated
fat, trans fat and cholesterol as low as possible as part of a nutritionally balanced eating lifestyle.
Protein: A nutrition label is required to list a %DV for protein if a claim is made for protein, such as "high in protein". Otherwise, unless the food is meant for use by infants and children under 4 years old, the label need not list a %DV for protein. Current scientific evidence indicates that protein intake is not a public health concern for adults and children over 4 years of age in the United States.
Sugars: No daily value has been established for sugars because no recommendations have been made for the total amount to eat in a day. Keep in mind that the sugars listed on the nutrition label include naturally occurring sugars (like those in fruit and milk) as well as those added to a food or drink. Check the ingredient list for specifics on added sugars.
If you are concerned about your intake of sugars, make sure that added sugars are not listed as one of the first few ingredients. Other names for added sugars include: corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, honey, and maple syrup.
To limit nutrients that have no %DV, like trans fat and sugars, compare the labels of similar products and choose the food with the lowest amount.
The content of this posting is based on information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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Deborah White, MD, MBA
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