"Scientifically, nutritional science is a mere shadow of what it will be when medical science throws its weigh,t behind its development by promoting a heaI<th­oriented instead of a disease-oriented discipline."

Roger J. Williams, James D. Heffley, Man-Li Yew and Charles W. Bode, Dept. of Chemistry, Clayton Founda­tion Biochemical Insti!tute, Universi,ty of Texas, Austin, in "A renaissance of nutritional science is imminent," Persp.Biol.Med., 17(No.1):1, 1973

C urrent Topics Energy and Protein: New Standards

Late in 1973, !the National Research Council released new figures for the Rec­ommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for energy and protein (and 16 other nutrients) .1

Energy The 1973 RDAs for energy are 2,700

Kcals for the ,adult "reference man" (aged 23,-50) and 2,000 Kcals for the "refer­ence woman" (aged 23-50). These fig­uresare virtually identical to the 1968 RDAs except that the age range for the reference 'adul.t is broader tha'n previ­ously. The energy RDAs are also very similar to the recently released interna­tional FAO/WHO standards (1) of 3,000 Kcals for the adul!t man and 2,200 for the aduJ.t woman. However, the FAO/ WHO reference weight (65 Kg man and 55 Kg woman) are lower ,than the U.S. equivalents (70 Kg man and 58 Kg woman), so the U.S. energy standards are lower per Kg body weight than the international ones. The National Re­search Council recommendations pre­sumably reflect a grea;ter eXJtent of sed­entary occupations than do the FAO/ WHO ones. Both sets of energy allow­ances are requirements, i.e., no margin of safety is included-as is the case for nutrients.

Protein The 1973 RDAs for protein are con­

siderably lower than the 1968 RDAs. For adults, the protein has been reduced from 65 grams ,to 56 grams for ,the man and from 55 gI'ams ,to 46 grams for the woman. The new FAO/WHO equiva­lent figures for protein2 for reference

I. A copy of the table of values of the 1973 RDAs may be ~btained by sending a self·addressed #10 (4 x 9% In.) envelope plus $0.50 (for handling) to: NNECH, 2140 Shattuck Ave., Suite 1110 Berkeley CA 94704. ' , 2. A level of consumption of 70% ideal protein (based on milk and egg) is assumed.

6 I Journal of NUTRJTJON EDUCATION

aduJ.tsare 53 and 41 grams for the man and woman, respectively (1) -like the energy :allowances, very close to the nearest RDAs. The major discrepancy between the two sets of recommendations is for protein during pregnancy. The aduIt pregnant woman's protein RDA (1973 figure) is 76 grams/day through­out pregnancy, while ,the equivalent F AO /WHO ,figure is 54 grams for the latter half of pregnancy. M.C.P.

REFERENCES l. FAO/WHO Ad Hoc Expert Committee,

Energy and Protein Requirements, World Health Organization Technical Report Series No. 522, 1973, World Health Or­ganization, Distribution and Sales Office, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, $2.10.

New FDA Regulations

The Food and Drug Administration recently established a number of new regulations which should be important to the consumer ,and .the educator. They include:

1. Fresh fruits and vegetables have been exempted from the regulations con­trolling nutrition information labeling. This means that a statement ,about or­anges asa source of vitamin C (on label or in advertising) will not ,trigger full nutrition labeling. The high variability of composition due to variety, growing con­ditions,and seasonal variations make it impracticable for fresh produce to com­ply with the tolerance levels of nutrition labeling regulations (Fed. Reg., Nov. 28, 1973, p. 32736).

2. Buffered premixes combining sea­soningand curing .agents for use in pro­cessed meat and pOUltry products have been prohibited by FDA and USDA. The seasoning and curing mixes must be packaged separately. Nitrosamines may be formed when Ithe nitrite preservative in the curing mix is combined with the amines in the seasoning (Fed. Reg., Nov. 16, 1973, p. 31679). Nitrosamines are a family of chemicals, some of which have been shown ,to cause cancer in test ani­mals. (For a discussion of n1tri,te, see J. Nutr. Educ., 5:8,1973).

3. New standards have been estab­lished for amounts of vitamins and iron to be added to enriched flour and bread. The standards become effeotive April 15, 1974. The new regulation of 40 mg iron per pound of flour is more than double the present 16.5 mg requirement. In bread, the iron is increased from a 12.5 mg. per ,pound limit to 25 mg. The thia­min, riboflavin, and niacin levels of en­richment were also incr'eased slightly (Fed. Reg., Oct. 15, 1973, p. 28558).

4. Final regulations revising existing standards for milk (whole, low-fat, and skim) were published in Ootober, 1973. When the regulations were first proposed in 1972, there was a provision for mak­ing the addition of vitamin D to milk mandatory; ,this ,was rejected, however, on the basis of reactions from consumers and industry during the comment period. Vi,tamin D continues as an optional ad­dition to milk.

There is concern that some companies may discontinue adding v1tamin D to the product to avoid full nutri,tion labeling. Currently, 98 % of all milk sold in the U.S. is vitamin D milk. If the percentage declines, FDA will oonsider amending the vitamin D from an optional to a man­datory ingredient. One change of interest is that flavoring ingredients may be add­ed-fruit and fruit juice (including con­centrates) or natural or artificial flavors -with appropriate label declarations. (Fed. Reg., Oct. 10, 1973, p. 27924) .

H.D.U.

Vitamins as Food or Drug

On Dec. 2, 1973, Sen. William Prox­mire (D-Wis.) introduced bill S.2801 in ,the Senate to "require the FDA to regulate vitamins and minerals as foods or food supplements rather than drugs." There have been several similar bills in­troduced in the House ,to limit FDA jur­isdiotion over dietary supplement prod­ucts but this is the first one of its ,type in the Senate. Under this bill "FDA could not limi,t the potency, number, combina­tion, amount or variety of vitami.ns and minerals ... if the amount recommended to be consumed does not ordinarily ren­der it injurious to health ... "

Meanwhile, the FDA is reviewing all vitamins and minerals which will be classified as drugs under the FDA regu­lations (,those :products oontaining more than 150% of -the U.S. RDAin most cases) . The Panel on Review of Vita­mins, Minerals and Hematinic Drug Products is studying available data on safety and effeotiveness of over~the­

counter (nonprescription) drugs, will examine their l,abelingadequacy, and ad­vise the Commissioner on conditions of their use.

The FDA regulation limiting the dos­age of preparations of vitamin A to 10,000 I.U. and vitamin D io 400 LU. without being classified as drugs went intoeifect Oct. 1, 1973, and .the regula­tion has been upheld in the first round of court injunctions. H.D.U.

VOL. 6, NO. I, JAN.-MARCH, 1974