Appendix

NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND DIETARY SOURCES

This book does not set out to be a textbook of nutrition. Extensive
consideration of the amounts of different food components as nutrients
required in a healthy diet is beyond its scope. Nevertheless it is obviously
valuable to be able to place the quantity, stability and availability of the
nutrients discussed in this book within the context of what nutritionists
would regard as desirable. Such data were at one time presented as
Recommended Daily Amounts (RDAs). Unfortunately RDA values
were frequently misused, and interpreted as absolute values to be
applied without qualification in decisions about an individual’s diet. In
1991 the UK Government Committee on Medical Aspects of Food
(COMA) introduced Dietary Reference Values (DRVs). For any given
food ingredient (e.g. a particular vitamin), and within a defined section
of the population (e.g. males aged 11–14 years), there are normally three
DRVs:

(i) The Estimated Average Requirement (EAR). Statistically, roughly

half the population will require less than the EAR and the other
half more.i
(ii) The Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI). This is the nutrient intake
adequate for almost all the population. This is not dissimilar from
the old RDA and is arbitrarily set at two standard deviations

i
Readers familiar with statistics will appreciate that the average (or mean) is not the same as the
median, which would precisely divide the population into two numerically equal halves.

Food: The Chemistry of its Components, Fifth edition

By T.P. Coultate
r T.P. Coultate, 2009
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org

475
476 Appendix

above the EAR. This assumes that the spread of actual require-
ments between individual members of the population follows
normal distribution, and implies that ‘‘almost all’’ means 97.5%.
(iii) The Lower Reference Nutrient Intake (LRNI). This is the nutrient
intake which is sufficient for only a small proportion of the
population. This is arbitrarily set at two standard deviations
below the EAR, in which case ‘‘a small proportion’’ means 2.5%.

The DRVs for most vitamins and minerals are presented in Table A1.
An important feature is that DRVs for three of the vitamins are quoted
in terms of the intake of other nutrients. This is a reflection of the close
involvement of these vitamins in particular aspects of metabolism—
thiamin and niacin with energy metabolism, and pyridoxine with protein
metabolism. Complete DRVs have not been established for some vita-
mins and minerals, since the absence of deficiency symptoms leads to the
conclusion that even poor diets are able to supply adequate quantities.

Table A1 Dietary Reference Values (DRVs) for daily intake of minerals and
vitamins. The values shown refer to males aged 11–14, and are
intended merely to illustrate the principles involved.
LRNI EAR RNI Units

Thiamin (per 1000 kcal) 230 300 400 mg

—or assuming the EAR for energy of – – 900 mg
2220 kcal per day is met:
Riboflavin 0.8 1.0 1.2
Pyridoxine (per g protein) 11 13 15 mg
—or assuming the EAR for high quality – – 51 mg
protein of 33.8 g per day is met:
Niacin (per 1000 kcal) 4.4 5.5 6.6 mg
—or assuming the EAR for energy of – – 15 mg
2220 kcal per day is met:
Folic acid 100 150 200 mg
Cobalamin 0.8 1.0 1.2 mg
Ascorbic acid 9 22 35 mg
Vitamin A (retinol equivalents) 250 400 600 mg
Calcium 0.45 0.75 1 g
Phosphorus (intake should match calcium 350 580 770 g
on an equimolar basis)
Magnesium 180 230 280 mg
Sodium (no EAR set) 0.46 – 1.6 g
Potassium (no EAR set) 1.6 – 3.1 g
Zinc 5.3 7.0 9.0 mg
Iron 6.1 8.7 11.3 mg
Iodine (no EAR set) 65 – 130 mg
Copper (no LRNI or EAR set) – – 800 mg
Selenium (no EAR set) 25 – 45 mg
Appendix 477

Another problem is that for some nutrients (particularly iron) the sta-
tistical distribution of requirements is not ‘‘normal’’ in the statistical
sense, but skewed, which makes these simple statistical concepts invalid.
In the case of pantothenic acid the normal intake rate of 3–7 mg per
day is assumed reasonably to be both safe and adequate. A similar
conclusion is drawn for a biotin intake of 10–200 mg per day. Most
individuals synthesise their own vitamin D, as discussed in Chapter 8,
but for individuals confined indoors the RNI is set at 10 mg per day. The

thiamin
riboflavin

niacin

pyridoxine

cobalamin

folate

ascorbic acid

0 20 40 % 60 80 100

sodium

potassium

magnesium

calcium

phosphorus

iron

copper

zinc

iodine

Meat & meat Fish & fish Fat spreads Milk & dairy Eggs Cereals & cereal
products dishes incl. butter products products

Fruit & nuts Vegetables Potatoes incl. Sugars, All drinks incl. Miscellaneous
excl. potatoes crisps etc. preserves, beer, wine, soft
confectionery drinks tea &
coffee

Figure A1 The percentage contribution of different foods to the vitamin and mineral
content of the British diet in 2000–01. The data are the average of a
representative sample of 1724 UK adults aged 19–64, omitting women
who were pregnant or breastfeeding.
478 Appendix

special needs of infants for vitamin D are reflected in RNI values

of 8.5 mg per day for the first 6 months and 7 mg per day for the following
18 months. The requirement for vitamin E is highly dependent on the
polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content of the diet, but the indica-
tions are that at a reasonable PUFA intake 3–4 mg per day is adequate.
New-born infants are particularly prone to vitamin K deficiency and in
this case an RNI of 10 mg per day is suggested. For adults, a figure
related to body weight (1 mg kg
1 per day) is recommended as adequate
and safe.
Although the chapters on vitamins and minerals give information on
the amounts of these nutrients in specific foods, to appreciate such data
fully one needs to understand the contribution of different foods to the
average diet. The survey designed to provide this information conducted
by the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) in
1986–87 was superseded by the National Diet and Nutrition Survey
carried out for the Food Standards Agency and published in 2003. It
includes data on the influence of region, household income and other
factors on diet and health. Figure A1 summarises data from the survey
on the contribution of various types of foodstuff to the supply of vita-
mins and minerals. Readers are recommended to consult the original
data for further information and in order to understand the changes
since the earlier survey.
In addition to data of the type shown the survey records details of the
contribution of particular foods to the supply of specific nutrients,
usually in relation to particular sections of the population. For example,
cooked carrots supply 30% of total carotene, but adult males obtain
26% of their vitamin A from liver. Beer and lager make a significant
contribution to the vitamin B intake of adult males (e.g. riboflavin 7%,
niacin 9%, pyridoxine 13% and folic acid 11%), but the corresponding
figures for females are 3% or less.

FURTHER READING
Department of Health, Dietary Reference Values for Food Energy and
Nutrients for the United Kingdom, HMSO, London, 1991.
National Academy of Sciences, Dietary Reference Intakes for Thiamine,
Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid,
Biotin and Choline, Institute of Medicine Standing Committee on the
Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes, Washington DC,
1998.
Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin
D, and Fluoride, ibid., 1997.
Appendix 479

Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and

Carotenoids, ibid., 2000.
Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride and
Sulfate, ibid., 2005.
Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty
Acids, Cholesterol, Protein and Amino Acids, ibid., 2005.
Food Standards Agency, National Diet and Nutrition Survey, HMSO,
2002–03, vol. 1, 2 and 3.