Proposed RDA Changes Could Bode Ill for Supplements Industry
Published: Wednesday, December 24, 2003
A federal advisory panel has proposed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) change the way it calculates the recommended daily intake of nutrients listed on the labels of packaged foods and vitamins. Currently, FDA bases it recommendations on the people who need the most nutrients, such as growing males, childbearing women and the elderly. However, those quantities are more than what is needed by 97 to 98 percent of the population, according to a Dec. 12 article in the Chicago Tribune.
The panel recommends that the FDA base its recommendations for daily intake of vitamins and minerals on the average needs of the populace and change the verbiage "recommended dietary allowance" to "estimated daily requirement." If the FDA follows the panel's advice, the recommended amount of iron and B-12 would be one-third of the current recommendation while zinc and phosphorous recommendations would be cut in half. Vitamin C and fiber recommendations would increase, however.
The panel's report states that excessive, long-term intake of supplements can cause diarrhea and liver abnormalities. Industry representatives worry that the change would mean a need for reformulating their products and creating new packaging. They also worry that some Americans will not get adequate nutrition if FDA makes the proposed changes.