Trace element requirements and DRVs

Abstract

The Panel on Dietary Reference Values (DRVs) of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) has completed its review of the current Recommended Daily Amounts (RDAs) of food energy and nutrients for groups of people in the United Kingdom which were set in 1979. The Panel has chosen to make fundamental changes in the nomenclature and derivation of RDAs by trying to set not one recommended level of intake, which is open to misunderstanding and has been misused in the past, but by defining a range of reference values for each nutrient. The history of the evolution of RDAs in the UK is described along with the main reasons which led COMA to convene this Panel to review them and the options which were available. The definitions of the new DRVs are given, comprising lower reference nutrient intake (LNRI), estimated average requirement (EAR) and reference nutrient intake (RNI). A description of how requirements for nutrients have been judged by the Panel in order to set each of these three new proposed reference values is given. The possible interpretations and uses of these new DRVs are also described.