Dietary Reference Values for nutrients Summary report

1 TECHNICAL report Approved: 4 December 2017 doi: EFSA Supporting publication 2017:e15121 Dietary Reference Values for nutrients Summary report European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Abstract Dietary Reference Values (DRVs) is an umbrella term for the complete set of nutrient Reference Values which include population Reference intakes (PRIs), the average requirements (ARs), adequate intakes (AIs) and Reference intake (RIs) ranges for macronutrients. These Values indicate the amount of a nutrient which must be consumed on a regular basis to maintain health in an otherwise healthy individual (or population).

2 In 2005, the European Commission asked EFSA to review the advice of the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF) dated 1993 on DRVs for the European population, to ensure that Community action in the area of nutrition was underpinned by the latest scientific evidence. The task was entrusted to the EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA). The Panel set the foundations for this task in an inaugural opinion published in 2010, which addressed the general principles for deriving and applying DRVs.

3 A total of 32 scientific opinions were then published over 7 years, covering water, fats, carbohydrates and Dietary fibre, protein, energy, as well as 14 vitamins and 13 minerals. This Summary report brings together the summaries of the individual opinions, together with synthetic tables and annexes. It provides an overview of the outcome of EFSA s scientific deliberations for easy Reference by end-users. This report is not meant to replace the original opinions. For the detailed reasoning behind individual Values , the reader is invited to consult the full opinions.

4 Key words: Dietary Reference Values ; nutrients ; macronutrients; micronutrients Requestor: EFSA Correspondence: DRVs Summary report 2 EFSA Supporting publication 2017:e15121 Suggested citation: EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), 2017. Dietary Reference Values for nutrients : Summary report . EFSA supporting publication 2017:e15121. 92 pp. European Food Safety Authority, 2017 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. DRVs Summary report 3 Preface Dietary Reference Values (DRVs) is an umbrella term for the complete set of nutrient Reference Values which include the Population Reference Intakes (PRIs), the Average Requirements (ARs), Adequate Intakes (AIs) and Reference Intake (RIs) ranges for macronutrients.

5 These Values indicate the amount of a nutrient which must be consumed on a regular basis to maintain health in an otherwise healthy individual (or population). They are set on the assumption that the requirements for energy and all other nutrients are already satisfied. DRVs also include the tolerable upper intake levels (ULs), which represent the maximum average daily intake level of nutrients considered to be unlikely to pose a risk of adverse health effects. DRVs are key concepts in the nutrition field.

6 They provide the scientific basis on which nutrition recommendations are built. They are the references used in Dietary assessment and diet planning, at the population and individual level. They also serve as the basis for setting Reference Values in food labelling, and in establishing food based Dietary guidelines. For these reasons, they will be helpful to health professionals, scientists, risk managers, policy makers, industry and many more. In 2005, the European Commission asked EFSA to review the advice of the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF)1 dated 1993 on DRVs for the European population, to ensure that Community action in the area of nutrition was underpinned by the latest scientific evidence.

7 The task was entrusted to the EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA). The Panel set the foundations for this task in an inaugural opinion published in 2010, which addressed the general principles for deriving and applying DRVs (EFSA NDA Panel, 2010a). A total of 32 scientific opinions were then published over 7 years, covering water, fats, carbohydrates and Dietary fibre, protein, energy, as well as 14 vitamins and 13 EFSA DRVs opinions share a common structure, which reflects the process by which DRVs are set.

8 Initial sections provide background information on the nutrient under consideration, addressing its chemistry, functions, physiology and metabolism, its interaction with other nutrients , as well as a review of available biomarkers of intake and status. Data on sources of the nutrient and its intake in European countries are then summarised, gathered from national reports or derived from EFSA Comprehensive European Food Consumption database3 and Food Composition Each opinion also compiles an overview of DRVs and recommendations set by other bodies.

9 The Panel then reviews existing literature on the physiological needs of the nutrient, as well as its association with health outcomes, including the risk of chronic diseases, in order to identify criteria on which to base the DRVs. Finally, the Panel integrates the available evidence and derives DRVs, where Because of the length of the individual opinions, it is impractical to publish them as a single report . Therefore, the present Summary report puts together the summaries of the individual opinions, together with synthetic tables and annexes.

10 It provides an overview of the outcome of EFSA s scientific deliberations for easy Reference by end-users. This report is not meant to replace the original opinions. For the detailed reasoning behind individual Values , the reader is invited to consult the full Many gave their time and energy to the DRVs opinions: EFSA and its NDA Panel are heartily grateful to all of them. Over the past 12 years, WG members on DRVs and NDA Panel members were involved, with a special tribute to Albert Flynn and Ambroise Martin, former chairs of the NDA Panel.