The National Academies hosted a public webinar in December 2025 to inform public health professionals, policy makers, and future Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) review committees about the DRI process. The webinar featured invited presentations and discussions focusing on the DRI framework, structure, and process; the evidence base needed to support derivation of DRI values; and their uses and applications for all sectors.

The DRls, developed by the National Academies since 1997, are a set of nutrient reference values that in the United States support all federal food and nutrition programs, policy, and regulatory initiatives, including WIC, SNAP, school meals, child and adult food programs, and military nutrition. They serve as a guide for meeting nutritional needs, including recommended intake levels for vitamins, macronutrients and more; safe upper limits of intake; and reduction of chronic disease risk. They provide the scientific basis for the development of dietary guidelines in both the United States and Canada.

The DRIs have many other critical health applications, such as for nutrition monitoring; setting food and nutrition policies; dietary counseling and monitoring; and nutrition labeling. In addition to setting nutrient requirements, DRI reviews also identify gaps in knowledge that can be used to determine research priorities. They are distinct from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, and the Canadian Dietary Guidelines issued by Health Canada, which provide advice on what to eat and drink to meet nutrient needs in different age categories.

Speakers at the webinar highlighted the importance of updating the DRIs for several reasons. The DRI approach has continually evolved. For example, DRIs are now based on a range of evidence that includes nutrient- and outcome-specific systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Updated DRIs reflect current research and scientific evidence, which is continually evolving. Because of the time and cost of systematic reviews, the only DRIs that have been updated are those for sodium and potassium; calcium and vitamin D; and energy. An update of the DRIs for macronutrients, which were established in 2005, is needed and is currently under consideration by the Joint Canada-U.S. Dietary Reference Intakes Working Group. It’s also important to note that while systematic reviews are foundational for setting DRIs, they are not the only source of evidence, and DRI review committees look at a range of evidence generated since the previous review.

Changes to the DRI process that were recommended for future DRIs include

• a shift in defining the DRI population from the “apparently healthy” to the “general” population;

• use of existing systematic reviews in conjunction with new systematic reviews as a part of the evidence base; and

• omitting the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) from consideration as a DRI value.

This ongoing evolution of the DRI process will maintain the currency and usefulness of the DRIs for health professionals and policy makers.

Learn more and access the full event recording.