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chronic disease risk, conditions that the RDAs fail to adequately address. For
example, the RDAs provided no recommendations for carbohydrate, dietary
fibers, total fat, saturated fat, or cholesterol. There were no nutrient
recommendation for older persons and no recommendation s for food
components that are not traditionally defined as nutrients (e.g., phytochemicals,
aspartame, caffeine, and alcohol). In addition, the recommended nutrient intake
levels of the RDAs were generally limited to amounts obtainable through diet
alone, and there was no guidance on the safe and effective use of vitamin,
mineral, and other nutrient supplements, depite considerable public interest in
use of such supplements.
Consequently, there arose a need for a more comprehensive set of
nutritional and dietary standards that adequately addressed more contemporary
nutritional concerns. In response, the Food and Nutrition Board, working in
conjunction with scientists from the Canadian Institute of Nutrition and Health
Canada, developed a new and expanded set of nutrient intakes known as the
Dietary Reference Intakes.