Word of the Week: Daily Intake Values

Daily Intake Value PronunciationNoun. Daily Intake Values, more commonly referred to as Daily Values (DV), on the nutrition label were developed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help consumers determine the level of various nutrients in a standard serving of food in relation to their approximate requirement for it.

The values are the average levels of nutrients for a person eating 2,000 calories a day. For example, a food item with a five percent DV of fat provides five percent of the total fat that a person consuming 2,000 calories a day should eat.

Remember, percent DVs are for the entire day, not just one meal or snack.

Used in a sentence:

The %DV on the nutrition facts label of food packages represents the percentage of the product that contributes to reaching the daily values for a person consuming a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet.

You can find more information on daily values here.

The image “Man Shopping in Supermarket” by U.S. Department of Agriculture is licensed under CC BY 2.0.