IOM support for DRIs threatens supplement industry

The IOM report claims that the 'percent Daily Value' figures included in the Nutrition Facts boxes on foods are not based on the most current scientific information. In the United States, most nutrient reference values published on food labels are based on the government-issued Recommended Daily Allowances from 1968.

The recommended daily allowances are based on the needs of the person most at risk of a deficiency so that it covers the needs of almost every individual. But this means that the majority of the population are taking doses above their needs, claims the new report.

The committee says that Daily Reference Intakes, developed over the last 10 years by US and Canadian nutritional scientists working under the auspices of IOM's Food and Nutrition Board, should instead be taken into account. This means that recommendations are based on the needs of an average person.

However if the FDA and Health Canada take on board the new advice, the recommended daily values of some vitamins and minerals could be significantly reduced.

John Hathcock, vice president for scientific and international affairs forthe supplement trade association the Council for Responsible Nutrition, told the Chicago Tribune​ that the changes could force the industry to relabel supplements and even reformulate them.

"It seems to me that the label ought to tell people that if you eat this amount you'll be adequately nourished…What this would do is tell the average consumer that they have a 50 per centchance of taking more than they need and a 50 per cent chance of taking less than what they need,"​ he told the paper.

CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson also criticised the report. "Of greatest concern, the committee proposed that labels recommend lower levels of most vitamins and minerals. The committee advised the FDA to select 'daily values' (DVs) that meet only the average needs of the average person. Current DVs meet the needs of almost everyone."​

He noted that the proposed DV for vitamin D (280 IU) would be one-third less than the current DV and half what seniors need (600 IU). The proposed DV for iron (6 mg) would be only one-third of the current DV (18 mg) and of what women of childbearing age need.

"The DVs for folate, calcium, magnesium, vitamin K, and most other nutrients would also drop. A young woman who eats a cereal fortified with 100 percent of the DV for most vitamins and minerals would actually get only one-third of the iron and half of the folic acid she needs,"​ said Jacobsen.

"If FDA accepts the panel's advice, companies would likely reduce the amounts of vitamins and minerals they add to foods and supplements."​

The Institute of Medicine is a private, nonprofit organization that carries out research for the National Academy of Sciences. But some industry members criticised the committee's make-up.

"I can only wonder how much stronger the committee's recommendations would have been if the committee had not been so top-heavy with food-industry consultants and grant recipients. All but one of the committee members have had major or minor financial relationships with the food industry, including two people who serve on the boards of directors of trade associations,"​ argued Jacobsen.

The IOM claims that the report 'addresses many technical issues that government scientists and policy-makers would face in the proposed effort'.

"Ultimately, the recommended changes would help consumers use food and dietary supplement labels to choose healthier diets,"​it notes.

"We hope that the US Food and Drug Administration, the US Department of Agriculture, and Health Canada will use these principles to revise the scientific basis for nutrition labels and discretionary fortification,"​ said committee chair Irwin H. Rosenberg, dean of Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and senior scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston.

Nutrition Facts boxes must appear on the labels of nearly all food products in the United States, and on those in Canada by 2005. Supplement Facts boxes on dietary supplements, including botanical products, must include the same nutrients listed in the Nutrition Facts box plus information on the other ingredients in the supplement.

The report advises that information on Nutrition Facts boxes should continue to be expressed as percent Daily Values, with a single reference value for each nutrient, and this value should be relevant for healthy individuals ages 4 and older, excluding pregnant or lactating women.

DRIs for this base population consist of data for 13 distinct life stages, but it would be impractical to provide Daily Values for each subgroup on nutrition labels, adds the report. The scientists therefore apply 'weighting', which uses US or Canadian census data to determine the proportions of each subgroup in the overall national population, and gives the largest subgroups most weight when formulating Daily Values.