Dietary Reference Intakes for the U.S. and Canada: Update on Implications for Nutrient Databases

New Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for the United States and Canada have recently been set for 31 nutrients, and are likely to be of interest to health professionals in other countries as well. In several cases, the units for these recommendations do not match those traditionally carried on nutrient composition databases. To allow users of nutrient databases to provide relevant evaluations of dietary data, developers will need to consider carrying new variables to allow the calculation of folate intake in μg of dietary folate equivalents, vitamin E intake as mg of α -tocopherol (not as mg of α -tocopherol equivalents), and vitamin A intake as μg of retinol activity equivalents (not as μg of retinol equivalents). Because the new recommendations for upper levels of intake sometimes refer to a specific form or source of a nutrient, nutrients occurring in foods must be separated from added or supplemental forms for vitamin E, niacin, and folate; pharmacological magnesium must be carried as a separate variable; and preformed vitamin A must be separated from vitamin A from carotenoids. The use of INFOODS tagnames will provide clarity when describing these new nutrient variables. For more information on the DRIs, see: www.nap.edu.