%DV Explained: 5% Low, 20% High

The % Daily Value (%DV) column on the Nutrition Facts label is the fastest way to judge a food without doing math. This guide explains where the numbers come from, how to apply the FDA's "5% low, 20% high" rule, and where %DV can mislead you if you're not careful.

What %DV actually means

The %DV tells you how much of a nutrient one serving of a food contributes to a total daily diet. It's calculated by dividing the amount of a nutrient in one serving by a reference amount called the Daily Value, then multiplying by 100.

For example, the Daily Value for sodium is 2,300 mg. If one serving of soup contains 690 mg of sodium, the label shows 30% DV (690 ÷ 2,300 = 0.30). That single serving provides almost a third of the day's recommended limit.

The footnote on every label explains that %DV is based on 2,000 calories a day, which the FDA uses as a reference for general nutrition advice. Your personal needs may differ, but the %DV still works well for comparing foods with each other.

Where the Daily Values come from

The FDA sets Daily Values in its labeling regulations (21 CFR 101.9), based on scientific reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The values were updated as part of the label redesign that took effect around 2020. The ones you'll see most often are:

• Total fat: 78 g
• Saturated fat: 20 g
• Cholesterol: 300 mg
• Sodium: 2,300 mg
• Total carbohydrate: 275 g
• Dietary fiber: 28 g
• Added sugars: 50 g
• Protein: 50 g
• Vitamin D: 20 mcg
• Calcium: 1,300 mg
• Iron: 18 mg
• Potassium: 4,700 mg

Some of these are upper limits and some are targets. For saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars, the Daily Value is an amount to stay under. For fiber, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium, it's an amount to try to reach.

The 5/20 rule

The FDA recommends a simple shortcut for reading %DV:

• 5% DV or less of a nutrient per serving is considered low.
• 20% DV or more of a nutrient per serving is considered high.

Use the rule in the direction that matches your goal. For saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars, look for lower numbers. For dietary fiber, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium, look for higher numbers.

A quick example

Imagine two breakfast cereals. Cereal A has 2% DV for added sugars and 18% DV for fiber. Cereal B has 24% DV for added sugars and 4% DV for fiber. Without calculating anything, you can see that Cereal A is low in added sugars and close to high in fiber, while Cereal B is high in added sugars and low in fiber.

Anything in between

Values between 5% and 20% are moderate. That's fine for most foods. The point isn't to only eat foods that are "low" in everything you want to limit. It's to notice when a single serving uses up a large share of your day, and to balance it with other choices.

Using %DV to balance a whole day

The Daily Values add up across everything you eat. If your lunch provides 60% DV for sodium, you have about 40% left for the rest of the day. This "budget" way of thinking is often more useful than labeling individual foods as good or bad.

The Daily Values for these nutrients were set in the FDA's 2016 Nutrition Facts final rule, based on the 2015–2020 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans: less than 10% of calories from added sugars and from saturated fat, and less than 2,300 mg of sodium a day for people 14 and older. On a 2,000-calorie diet, 50 g of added sugars is 200 calories, and 20 g of saturated fat is 180 calories, both about 10% of 2,000. The current Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025–2030 keep the saturated fat and sodium limits but go further on sugar: they say no amount of added sugars is recommended as part of a healthy diet, that no single meal should contain more than 10 g of added sugars, and that children should avoid added sugars through about age 10. The FDA's Daily Values are set by regulation and haven't changed, so the 50 g figure on the label is now best read as an upper bound, not a target.

Where %DV can mislead

It's per serving, not per package

The %DV applies to one serving. If you eat two servings, double it. Some packages that are likely to be eaten in one or two sittings now carry a dual-column label showing both per-serving and per-package values, which helps.

Some nutrients have no %DV

Trans fat and total sugars don't have a %DV. Health authorities recommend keeping trans fat as low as possible rather than setting a daily target, and no official recommendation exists for total sugars because they include naturally occurring sugars in foods like milk and fruit. Protein only shows a %DV when the package makes a protein claim or the food is intended for young children.

Your needs may differ

The Daily Values are set for a general adult population. Children, pregnant people, older adults, and people with certain health conditions may have different needs. For example, calorie needs for adults range widely depending on age, sex, and activity. If you've been given specific targets by a health professional, use those instead.

Rounding rules

FDA rules allow manufacturers to round small amounts. A food with less than 0.5 g of trans fat per serving can list 0 g, and a food with less than 5 mg of sodium can list 0 mg. If you eat several servings, those small amounts can add up.

%DV and front-of-package claims

Many nutrient content claims are defined by FDA regulations that relate to the Daily Values. For instance, a food labeled "high in" or "excellent source of" a nutrient must provide 20% DV or more per serving, and a "good source" must provide 10% to 19% DV, under 21 CFR 101.54. "Low sodium" is defined separately as 140 mg or less per serving under 21 CFR 101.61. Knowing the 5/20 rule helps you check whether a claim on the front of the box matches what's on the back.

How to use this on myfoodfact.com

Product pages on myfoodfact.com show nutrient amounts from the manufacturer's label, so you can apply the 5/20 rule directly. A few good places to start:

• See which products come in lowest on sodium in our low-sodium list.
• Find options that keep saturated fat low in low saturated fat products.
• Look for foods that help you reach your fiber target in products ranked by fiber.
• Review the basics in our guide on how to read the Nutrition Facts label.

The bottom line

You don't need to memorize the Daily Values. Just remember 5 and 20: 5% DV or less is low, 20% DV or more is high. Use it to compare similar foods side by side, to spot items that take a big bite out of your sodium or added-sugar budget, and to find foods that help you get more fiber, calcium, vitamin D, iron, and potassium.

This guide is for general information and is not medical advice. Talk with your doctor or a registered dietitian about your individual nutrition needs.