EPA, DHA One Step Closer to Potential DRIs

A U.S. and Canadian nutrient assessment group has tabbed omega-3 EPA and DHA for its next round of Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) reviews. The two fatty acids are, thus, one step closer to earning Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) values.

The Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s (Salt Lake City) broke the news last Friday in its members-only newsletter, having spent years petitioning the Institute of Medicine and FDA to schedule these reviews. Industry will still have to wait for a 2015 workshop in which experts will mull potential DRI values while keeping in mind chronic disease outcomes, such as coronary disease risk, that may be related to intake of (or, rather, deficiency in) these nutrients.

The nutrient assessment group that is scheduling EPA and DHA for DRI reviews also selected sodium, magnesium, and vitamin E as “priority nutrients” for assessment. Each of these nutrients was selected based on the opinion that new scientific information has been made available to warrant new DRI reviews. Only time will tell which nutrients make the final cut.

Other organizations around the world already have dietary recommendations for EPA, DHA, and fish intake.

Photo by ©iStockphoto.com/Rixipix

Robby Gardner
Associate Editor
Nutritional Outlook magazine
robby.gardner@ubm.com