Bill Sardi

for the Food & Drug Administration to revamp nutrient guidelines for the American population. The FDA says it is close to issuing a new guideline that may water-down essential nutrients in foods and multivitamins.

At issue is whether the FDA will use the relied-upon RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) that covers the nutrients needs of 98% of the population or the EAR (Estimated Average Requirement) which only addresses the nutrient level needed to meet the needs of 50% of the population.

While the proposed FDA rule is anticipated any time now (it will have to withstand a public comment period), one wonders whether the FDA will take into consideration a newly-published report showing the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) level would leave many Americans short of meeting their need for essential vitamins and minerals.

Strikingly, thenewly published reportshows that dietary supplements play a stronger role in meeting the nation??s nutrients needs than previously thought.

While the prevailing mantra is that an American adult can get all the essential nutrients they need out of a good diet, this is far from the truth in the real world.

According to arecently published reportin the Journal of Nutrition (Aug. 26, 2011), a large percentage of the American public failed to achieve even the water-down Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) for essential vitamin and minerals even when foods were enriched, fortified or the diet amplified with dietary supplements.