Just like fashion, nutrition goes through trends. For the past few years, vitamin D has been the trendy nutrient, with studies indicating that all sorts of health benefits come from vitamin D consumption. Thanks to this week’s report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), which set new recommended intake levels of vitamin D and calcium, vitamin D is back in the headlines, including a front page article in "The New York Times." Be sure to read the balance of this post, too,  to learn the specific implications for the dairy industry. Vitamin D was a hot topic, too, at the American Dietetic Association’s Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE) that I attended a couple of weeks ago. Speaking to a room of hundreds of nutrition professionals, vitamin D researcher Dr. Michael Holick lauded various benefits of vitamin D, including prevention of cancer and healthier pregnancies. Another FNCE session featured Dr. Steve Abrams, a member of the IOM committee examining intake of calcium, who gave a preview of the science used by the IOM committee to make recommendations for children’s intake of vitamin D. This presentation was much more reserved, focusing on the scientific research supporting bone health benefits in children. Tuesday’s release of the IOM report is the latest in a series of reports outlining Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs), a set of numbers that give guidelines for consumption by healthy Americans. Since the IOM last examined the research on calcium and vitamin D about 15 years ago, a significant amount of new data has been published. This allowed the committee to set Estimated Average Requirements (EARs), Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDAs) and Upper Limits (ULs) for calcium and vitamin D for a range of age groups, instead of the older Adequate Intake (AIs), which were characterized by the committee chair as “guesstimates.” The committee found that the most compelling research linked vitamin D to bone health, with less data on the other health benefits. Since each person’s needs are different, the report identified a set of values within various populations, to be used in different ways. The report indicated that the average American adult needs 400 International Units (IUs) of vitamin D per day (EAR). It also set the RDA for adults, which is intended to cover the needs of more than 97 percent of the population, at 600 IUs per day. A UL, above which the committee believes there is potential harm, was set at 4000 IUs per day. Compared to the old AI and the Daily Value (DV) that is used for labeling purposes, the new RDA is about 50 percent higher. These new IOM levels are much lower than Dr. Holick’s recommendation of 2000 IU for adults. In addition to recommended intake levels, the IOM report expressed concern over the lack of standardization of vitamin D blood tests available through doctor’s offices and about excessive intake of vitamin D through supplements and fortified foods. Fortified dairy products provide more than half of the vitamin D in the American diet with most milk fortified at 100 IUs per cup. The report highlighted vitamin D fortification of dairy, including milk, yogurt and some cheese, and also cited USDA data that shows reliable fortification of fluid milk.

Implications for Industry

While DRIs do serve as the basis for Daily Values that are used in the Nutrition Facts panel and for determining eligibility for nutrient content claims, such as “good source of vitamin D,” this new report will not require any immediate labeling changes. These new recommendations for calcium and vitamin D consumption will inform the update of Daily Values, a process that FDA began about three years ago with an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the first step in the regulatory process. Until the Daily Values are officially changed through the regulatory process, dairy processors should continue to use the current Daily Value for labeling purposes. With calcium and vitamin D again on the forefront of the public’s mind, this is a good time to remind your customers of the bone health benefits of milk and dairy. If your products are eligible for vitamin D fortification (ice creams and frozen desserts are not), consider fortification. If you do fortify, look at nutrient content claims, such as “good source of vitamin D.” Remember that there are regulatory limits to fortification. While there are concerns with overconsumption of vitamin D, the levels in three daily servings of dairy products are well below the UL level of 4000 IU per day. Are your products fortified with vitamin D? Do you make any claims about vitamin D on your packages or in advertising?