The human body needs certain vitamins and minerals to function properly. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with other agencies, has developed guidelines for the minimum amounts of vitamins people should ingest each day. The regulations governing vitamins and minerals in food products require food manufacturers to reveal specific nutritional information based on recommended daily minimums, though they do not dictate that any product must have a minimum level of vitamins.
Daily Reference Intakes
The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council, part of the National Academies of Science, has established a set of nutritional standards that identify the minimum amount of vitamins and other nutrients most people need to maintain adequate health. These standards, known as the Daily Reference Intakes, or DRIs -- or sometimes as the required daily allowance or the recommended daily allowance -- establish the minimum amount of each vitamin you should ingest each day.
Vitamins
The DRI guidelines differentiate between 21 different required vitamins, minerals and macronutrients. These include, but are not limited to, calcium, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, niacin, riboflavin, folate, copper, iodine, magnesium and zinc. Some minerals, such as vitamin K, fluoride, manganese and chromium, do not yet have established daily minimum requirements.
Amounts
The DRI guidelines also differentiate based on a person's age. For example, they recommend that the average child between 1 and 3 years of age ingest 500 mg calcium and 13 mg vitamin C per day. The average male between the ages of 31 and 50, on the other hand, should ingest 800 mg calcium and 75 g vitamin C per day.
FDA Labels
The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, requires that food products sold in the United States carry labels specifying the nutritional content of the food, including the vitamins and minerals. For example, the label must provide information about how many calories the item contains, along with the percentage of fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron. These percentages are based on a 2,000-calorie diet for the average adult.
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