Guideline Daily Amounts

A guide to a balanced diet

This new system of nutrition information is based on international dietary guidelines for the average daily amount of calories and nutrients that people need – known as Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA). More and more, we are putting this information on our food packaging in addition to the existing full nutrition labelling.

Information at a glance

This information let you check the specific nutrients in a product and avoid an unhealthy, unbalanced intake. Nutrients like sugars, fat, saturated fat and sodium (salt) should be consumed in limited amounts according to WHO international dietary recommendations. The new system tells you at a glance the calories contained in a single serving, as well as the sugars, fat, saturated fat and sodium or salt in it. To help you further, you are shown what percentage of your daily amount of these nutrients the product contributes to you daily needs,  which helps you in choosing a balanced diet.

Guideline Daily Amounts are based on scientific studies and international recommendations (1). The system for the new labelling was created by the European food industry association – CIAA or the Confederation of Food and Drink Industries of the European Union – together with independent experts.

What does 'Guideline Daily Amount' mean?

Our requirements for calories and nutrients differ according to gender, age, size, body weight and activity levels. That is why the Guideline Daily Amount is not a target for individuals but an average guideline for healthy adults, based on international studies and recommendations. GDAs used in food labelling take the values for adult women – this provides a sensible average for the needs of the majority of the population.

The table below shows the GDAs for an average adult:

Five nutrients

Most GDA labels will give you information for these five nutrients: calories, sugars, fat, saturates and salt or sodium. The number of GDAs can be extended to other nutrients provided broad international agreement on recommended amounts.

Calories:

Calories help you to replace the energy you use during the day and at night – energy is needed not just for exercise but for everything you do, even breathing and sleeping. So you need to ensure that the energy you use balances out the energy you take in. The average person needs about 2,000 calories per day.

Sugars:

The sugars in your diet come from many places: some of them obvious, like sugar sprinkled on strawberries or stirred into a cup of tea, others where you may not expect them to be, like the naturally occurring sugars found in fruit, fruit juice and milk. You should aim to stay within the guideline daily amount of 90g of sugars a day.

Fat:

The GDA fat icon represents the total amount of fat in a portion of the product. This includes both unsaturated fat and saturated fat. A healthy diet should always include a certain amount of fat because, among other things, it provides energy and essential fatty acids, and helps you to absorb vital vitamins. Try to eat no more than your guideline daily amount, though, and go for unsaturated fats as much as possible – like the ones you find in oily fish, nuts and seeds, avocado and sunflower, rapeseed or olive oil and spreads made from these. The GDA for fat for an average adult is 70g.

Saturates:

The GDA saturates icon represents the total amount of saturated fat in a portion of the product. When eaten in excess, saturates can raise cholesterol, which contributes to heart disease. Try to consume no more than 20g saturates a day.

Salt:

Too much salt* in our diet is linked to high blood pressure and heart disease. Many of us consume far more salt than we need, so a diet that stays under our guideline daily amount is something we should all be aiming for. The GDA for salt is 6g.

Alternatively you may see sodium on GDA labels instead of salt. Sodium is the part of salt which is responsible for raising blood pressure. Sodium content can be converted to salt content by multiplying it by 2.5. However, whether salt or sodium is represented, the % GDA will be the same.