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What does %DV mean on a nutrition label?

%DV is the percent of the Daily Value that one serving of the food gives you for a nutrient. The FDA says 5% DV or less of a nutrient per serving is low, and 20% DV or more is high.

Action level No action usually needed

Why you are seeing it
It is the right-hand column of the Nutrition Facts label on packaged food, next to each nutrient.
Why it matters
It lets you compare two foods on the same scale without doing arithmetic on grams, and it shows at a glance whether a serving contributes a little or a lot of a nutrient.
What should I do?
  • Check the serving size first, because every number on the label refers to it.
  • Use the Daily Value Calculator to turn an amount into a percent.
  • Remember the Daily Values are label references based on 2,000 calories, not a personal target.
A common misunderstanding
A high %DV is not good or bad on its own: it only says how much one serving gives of that nutrient.

What the percentage is

The Daily Value is a reference amount of a nutrient that the FDA uses on food labels, based on a 2,000 calorie daily diet. The %DV on the label is the share of that reference amount that one serving of the food contains.

It is a way to compare foods quickly: it turns grams or milligrams into a share of a common yardstick.

A simple example

Fiber in a serving

The Daily Value for dietary fiber is 28 grams.

A serving with 5 grams of fiber is 5 / 28 = 17.9%, which is about 18% DV: between the low and high marks.

A serving with 20 grams would be 20 / 28 = 71%, well above the 20% mark.

The 5% and 20% marks

The FDA page on reading the label says 5% DV or less of a nutrient per serving is low, and 20% DV or more is high. Whether low or high is a good thing depends on the nutrient: a person may want more of one and less of another.

A label's amounts refer to the size of one serving. Eating two servings doubles every number.

Try these tools

  • Daily Value CalculatorTurn an amount of a nutrient into a percent of its FDA Daily Value, with the FDA rule for low and high.
  • Nutrition Label CalculatorEnter the numbers on a food label and the servings you ate to see what you actually ate. Also multiplies a label by any number of servings.
  • Fiber Intake GuideCompare the fiber you ate with the FDA Daily Value for fiber, and learn what dietary fiber is.

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