Daily Value, a new dietary reference value to help consumers use food label information to plan a healthy overall diet.

First, it serves as a basis for declaring on the label the percent of the Daily Value for each nutrient that a serving of the food provides.

For example, the Daily Value for fat, based on a 2,000-calorie diet, is 65 grams (g). A food that has 13 g of fat per serving would state on the label that the "percent Daily Value" for fat is 20 percent.

Second, it provides a basis for thresholds that define descriptive words for nutrient content, called descriptors, such as "high fiber" and "low fat." For example, the descriptor "high fiber" can be used if a serving of food provides 20 percent or more of the Daily Value for fiber—that is, 5 g or more.

What it is not intended to do is tell people what amounts of nutrients they should eat every day. It is just reference points to help people get some kind of perspective on what their overall daily dietary needs should be.

Nutrient		Canada	USA
Fat		65 g	65 g
- Saturated & Trans		20 g	20 g
- Cholesterol		300 mg	300 mg
Sodium		2400 mg	2400 mg
Potassium		3500 mg	3500 mg
Carbohydrate		300 g	300 g
- Fibre		25 g	25 g
Vitamin 'A'		1000 RE	5000 IU (1500 RE)
Vitamin 'C'		60 mg	60 mg
Calcium		1100 mg	1000 mg
Iron		14 mg	18 mg