Glossary
What Is % Daily Value? Reading the Nutrition Label
Definition
% Daily Value (%DV) is the share of an FDA reference amount for a nutrient that one serving or amount of food provides. It is the amount divided by the Daily Value, as a percent.
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The % Daily Value column on a nutrition label answers a simple question: how big is this amount of food compared with a fixed reference amount? The reference amounts are called Daily Values, and the percentage is the amount of the nutrient divided by its Daily Value.
The Daily Values CalorTracker uses are the FDA's, for adults and children 4 years and older, set in the U.S. regulation 21 CFR 101.9. They are the reference amounts behind the % Daily Value on US Nutrition Facts labels, and the percentages on our food pages use them. A packaged product's label is worked out for its own serving, ours for 100 grams. The full source is listed on sources.
How it is calculated
%DV = the amount of the nutrient divided by its Daily Value, times 100, rounded to a whole percent. If the result rounds to zero but the food does contain some of the nutrient, we show "<1%" instead of 0%, so a trace is not mistaken for none. Nutrients with no Daily Value, such as total sugars, show no percentage at all. Energy has none either, because labels do not print a %DV for calories.
A few of the Daily Values for reference: calcium 1,300 mg, potassium 4,700 mg, sodium 2,300 mg, protein 50 g. The computation is described under percent daily value in how we calculate.
Worked example
Our data stores nutrients per 100 grams, so the %DV on a food page is for 100 grams. For almonds and broccoli:
| Food and nutrient | Amount per 100 g | Daily Value | %DV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Almonds, calcium | 269 mg | 1,300 mg | 21% |
| Almonds, protein | 21.15 g | 50 g | 42% |
| Almonds, sodium | 1 mg | 2,300 mg | <1% |
| Broccoli, potassium | 316 mg | 4,700 mg | 7% |
The calcium row reads: 269 divided by 1,300 is a little over a fifth, which rounds to 21%. The sodium row is the "<1%" case: almonds contain a trace of sodium, so the page shows a symbol and not a misleading zero.
What the number is good for
%DV is a quick way to compare foods on one nutrient without remembering milligrams: a larger percentage means a larger share of the reference amount. The calcium list and potassium list rank foods by the amount of a nutrient per 100 grams, and the percentage on each food page puts that amount in context.
Because every percentage is measured against its own reference, the column also lets you scan one food and see which nutrients it supplies most of, without converting between milligrams and micrograms.
What %DV does not tell you
A Daily Value is a labelling reference, not a personal target. Your own needs depend on your age, sex, size and health, and the FDA figure does not adjust for any of them. The percentage also depends on the amount: 100 grams is not a serving, and a real portion may be a fraction of it or several times as much.
Nor is a high percentage automatically a good thing. For some nutrients, such as sodium, a label percentage describes how much of the reference a food uses up, not whether that is wanted. If you have a medical reason to limit a nutrient, a doctor or registered dietitian can set the figure that applies to you.
Where to use it
Sources
- FDA Daily Values, 21 CFR 101.9
- USDA FoodData Central
- How the figures above are computed: how we calculate. Every outside source we use is on sources.
This is general information, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, under 18 or managing a health condition, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before changing how you eat.
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