A box of breakfast cereal prints one line: "Fiber 4g, 14%". The pack of instant noodles next to it says: "Sodium 1,600mg, 70%".
14% of what? 70% of what? And is 70% a lot or a little?
This percentage column is the most ignored part of the label. But once you understand it, you get a quick way to see which numbers are high and which are low.
In this article
%DV is a percentage of a "reference day"
%DV stands for % Daily Value. On Vietnamese labels you may see it written as "% giá trị dinh dưỡng tham chiếu" (% nutrient reference value) or %NRV (nutrient reference value).
The meaning is the same: what percentage the number on the label makes up of a reference amount for the whole day.
That reference amount is based on a "reference day". On US-style labels, the reference day is 2,000 kcal. It is a round, easy number, close to the average adult's needs. It is not your personal need.
Each country may use a slightly different set of reference amounts. So the same 1,000mg of sodium might show 43% on one country's label and 50% on another's. Do not be surprised.
What is the whole-day benchmark? The US reference table
To make it concrete, here are some reference amounts used on labels by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in its 2016 update:
| Nutrient | Whole-day benchmark | Picture it as |
|---|---|---|
| Sodium | 2,300mg | About 1 teaspoon of salt |
| Added sugars | 50g | About 12 teaspoons of sugar |
| Fiber | 28g | About two and a half bowls of cooked chickpeas |
| Protein | 50g | About 8 eggs |
| Saturated fat | 20g | Nearly 2 tablespoons of coconut oil |
So the noodle pack showing sodium 70%: one pack is already nearly three quarters of the whole-day benchmark. The cereal box showing fiber 14%: one bowl takes you a short stretch along the road to 28g.
The 5 and 20 rule: one glance tells high or low
The FDA suggests a very tidy way to remember it:
- 5% or less: low.
- 20% or more: high.
Then it depends on whether you want that nutrient high or low:
- Want it high: fiber, calcium, iron, potassium, vitamin D.
- Want it low: sodium, saturated fat, added sugars.
Take two packs of cookies. Pack A has sodium 3%, pack B has sodium 18%. Without knowing the benchmark in mg, you can see pack A is much less salty.
That is the strength of the % column: it puts every unit (grams, milligrams, micrograms) on the same scale. You do not need to remember 2,300mg or 28g, just look at the percentage.
You are not a "2,000-calorie person"
Everyone's real needs can be lower or higher than 2,000 kcal. A petite woman with an office job may need less. Someone doing manual work may need quite a bit more.
So %DV works well to:
- Compare products with each other. This is what it does well.
- Spot unusually high numbers. A snack with sodium at 40% is worth noticing.
It is not meant for adding up each food until you reach "100% and the day is done". The reference day is not your day. To learn your own energy needs, read what are BMR and TDEE.
No percentage on the label? Work it out yourself
Many products only list grams and milligrams, with no %. You can work it out in seconds:
(Number on the label ÷ whole-day benchmark) × 100
Say a pack of bánh tráng trộn (the street snack of tossed rice paper) lists sodium 600mg:
- 600 ÷ 2,300 × 100 = about 26%
- Over 20%, so that is high.
Say a cup of yogurt lists 12g sugar, and assume most of it is added sugar:
- 12 ÷ 50 × 100 = 24%
- Also over the 20% mark.
You do not need to be exact to the percent. The goal is just to know whether the number falls in the low, middle or high zone.
Inside the kOBE kitchen
We list numbers per 100g, and you can use the same calculation above to turn them into percentages.
Take Sous Vide Chicken Breast: 31g protein per 100g cooked. Against the US label's 50g protein benchmark, that is about 62%. One 100g pack is already more than half the protein benchmark of a "reference day".
Take kOBE Signature Lean Mayo, Vegan, a tofu-based sauce with no eggs and no dairy: 1.2g sugar per 100g. Against the 50g benchmark, that is about 2%, in the low zone. And you usually use only a spoonful or two, far less than 100g.
These numbers help you compare quickly, while real needs still vary from person to person. See the ready-cooked ingredients.
Frequently asked questions
Are %DV and %NRV the same?
Why is there no % for total sugars?
Can children use the 2,000 kcal benchmark?
Keep reading
Sources
- U.S. FDA. Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels.
- U.S. FDA (2016). Food Labeling: Revision of the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels, Final Rule.
- Codex Alimentarius (FAO/WHO). Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling (CXG 2-1985), section on nutrient reference values (NRV).
- USDA FoodData Central: cooked chickpeas, chicken eggs, table salt, coconut oil.
- Further reading: Understanding Nutrition 16th ed., section 2.3.
