# Vitamin A: FDA Daily Value

The FDA Daily Value for Vitamin A is 900 mcg RAE for adults and children 4 or more years of age (§ 101.9(c)(8)(iv)). It changes by population group; see the table below.

**URL:** https://bettermenu.live/tools/rda/vitamin-a/
**Provider:** BetterMenu (https://bettermenu.live)
**Dataset:** US Nutrition Label Rules v17.0.0 (CFR snapshot: 2026-02-12)
**Type:** RDI (Reference Daily Intake), a fixed target not tied to calories
**Unit:** mcg_rae
**Citation:** § 101.9(c)(8)(iv)

## Daily Value by population group

Source: FDA, § 101.9(c)(8)(iv). "Not applicable" means the nutrient is absent from that group's FDA table; "No DV" means it is listed with no established value.

| Population group | Daily Value | Low (5% of DV) | High (20% of DV) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Adults & children 4+ | 900 mcg RAE | 45 mcg RAE | 180 mcg RAE |
| Children 1–3 years | 300 mcg RAE | 15 mcg RAE | 60 mcg RAE |
| Pregnant & lactating | 1,300 mcg RAE | 65 mcg RAE | 260 mcg RAE |
| Infants 0–12 months | 500 mcg RAE | 25 mcg RAE | 100 mcg RAE |

## Before 2016

For adults and children 4+, labels until 2020/2021 showed 5,000 IU. Now 900 mcg RAE.

The unit changed. IU to mcg RAE has no single factor. It depends on the source: retinol or one of several carotenoids. So we do not compare the two numbers.

Source: 21 CFR 101.9(c)(8)(iv), edition revised as of April 1, 2016. "Vitamin A, 5,000 International Units"

The 2016 rule took effect on July 26, 2016 (81 FR 33742). Labels had to use the new values by January 1, 2020 for manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual food sales, and by January 1, 2021 for smaller ones (83 FR 19619). Values are for adults and children 4 or more years of age (21 CFR 101.9(c)(8)(i)).

- [View the 2016 edition (govinfo.gov)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2016-title21-vol2/pdf/CFR-2016-title21-vol2-sec101-9.pdf)
- [View the rule, 81 FR 33742 (Federal Register)](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/05/27/2016-11867/food-labeling-revision-of-the-nutrition-and-supplement-facts-labels)

## How %DV is calculated

1. Divide the amount of vitamin a in one serving by its Daily Value (900 mcg RAE), and multiply by 100.
2. Round the result with this nutrient's %DV rounding table (§ 101.9(c)(8)(iii)), shown below.
3. 21 CFR 101.9(d)(7)(ii) permits either the actual amount in the serving or the amount declared on the label (itself rounded) as the basis for step 1.
4. FDA reads 5% DV or less as a little and 20% DV or more as a lot.

## Label rounding rules

- Regulation: in mcg RAE, to the precision of the Daily Value; more decimals allowed for small amounts; under 2% DV may show 0%
- FDA guidance (nonbinding): nearest 10 mcg RAE

### Amount

Source: FDA guidance, "Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels: Questions and Answers..." (Nov 2018, rev. Dec 2019), Section VI Q1 (nonbinding)

| Amount range (mcg_rae) | Declared as |
| --- | --- |
| 0 to <5 | nearest 5 mcg RAE |
| ≥5 | nearest 10 mcg RAE |

### % Daily Value

Source: FDA, § 101.9(c)(8)(iii)

| %DV range | Rounded to |
| --- | --- |
| 0 to 10% DV | Nearest 2% |
| >10 to 50% DV | Nearest 5% |
| >50% DV | Nearest 10% |

## Related

- HTML page: https://bettermenu.live/tools/rda/vitamin-a/
- All FDA Daily Values: https://bettermenu.live/tools/rda.md
- Machine-readable dataset: https://bettermenu.live/tools/rda/data.json