# Vitamin D: FDA Daily Value

The FDA Daily Value for Vitamin D is 20 mcg 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-d/
**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
**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+ | 20 mcg | 1 mcg | 4 mcg |
| Children 1–3 years | 15 mcg | 0.75 mcg | 3 mcg |
| Pregnant & lactating | 15 mcg | 0.75 mcg | 3 mcg |
| Infants 0–12 months | 10 mcg | 0.5 mcg | 2 mcg |

## Before 2016

For adults and children 4+, labels until 2020/2021 showed 400 IU. Now 20 mcg. Increased.

400 IU = 10 mcg, so the Daily Value went up.

Source: 21 CFR 101.9(c)(8)(iv), edition revised as of April 1, 2016. "Vitamin D, 400 International Units"

Conversion: FDA guidance, "Converting Units of Measure for Folate, Niacin, and Vitamins A, D, and E on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels" (Aug 2019), Section III.D. This factor is FDA guidance, not regulation..

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 is vitamin D declared on a Nutrition Facts label?

When a serving has less than 2 percent of the RDI, the label does not have to state the amount: it may show zero, or an asterisk that points to “Contains less than 2 percent of the Daily Value of this (these) nutrient (nutrients)”. (21 CFR 101.9(c)(8)(iii)) Or, except on the simplified format, it may leave vitamin D off and print “Not a significant source of vitamin D” at the bottom of the nutrient table. (21 CFR 101.9(c)(8)(iii))

## How %DV is calculated

1. Divide the amount of vitamin d in one serving by its Daily Value (20 mcg), 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, to the precision of the Daily Value; more decimals allowed for small amounts; under 2% DV may show 0%
- FDA guidance (nonbinding): nearest 0.1 mcg

### Amount

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

| Amount range (mcg) | Declared as |
| --- | --- |
| 0 to <0.05 | nearest 0.01 mcg |
| ≥0.05 | nearest 0.1 mcg |

### % 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-d/
- All FDA Daily Values: https://bettermenu.live/tools/rda.md
- Machine-readable dataset: https://bettermenu.live/tools/rda/data.json