consumption patterns were increasingly formulated based on scientific knowledge of human needs for essential nutrients and energy (Harper, 1987). The report of the first RDA committee reflected these new ideas for developing dietary standards.

The first RDA committee surveyed the research literature and formulated a tentative set of values for various nutrients known at that time for persons of different age groups, for both sexes, and during pregnancy and lactation. The committee sent copies of the proposed allowances to a large group of scientists and asked for criticism and suggestions. As Lydia J. Roberts, a member of that committee, described it, “ they believed that any accepted allowances should represent not just the thoughts of a small group of workers, however competent they might be, but that all persons who had done research on any factor or had other bases for judgment should have a part in their formulation ” (Roberts, 1958). At that time, the size of the U.S. scientific nutrition community was about 50 people (Roberts, 1958). It is difficult to estimate the size of this community now. At least 5,000 individuals are members of primarily research-oriented nutrition societies, and a conservative estimate of the membership of other professional nutrition societies who are also involved in nutrition research would add at least an additional 20,000 scientists.

Since the original RDA committee, the FNB has developed a mode of operation that involves establishing a committee of experts who then gather needed information through a variety of mechanisms. All RDA committees rely heavily on published literature. Recent RDA committees have sought additional scientific expertise through correspondence, workshops, and special meetings with invited experts. A group of anonymous reviewers critiques every report, and the committee gives serious consideration to these appraisals.

When the first RDA committee began its work in 1940, the concept of essential nutrients was well established. Nutrients were defined as chemical substances found in food that are necessary for human life and tissue growth and repair. Those that the body cannot synthesize were called essential (or indispensable) nutrients. The first RDAs were intended to be “a table of allowances which would represent the best available evidence on the amounts

FRONT MATTER (R1-R8)

CONTENTS (R9-R10)

1 INTRODUCTION (1-6)

2 CONCEPTS UNDERLYING THE RECOMMENDED DAILY ALLOWANCES (7-16)

3 FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR THE RECOMMENDED DIETARY ALLOWANCES UNDER DISCUSSION... (17-21)

REFERENCES (22-24)

APPENDIX A: SPEAKERS AND COMMENTERS (25-28)

APPENDIX B: NEED FOR CHANGE VOICED BY THE SCIENTIFIC AND ADVOCACY COMMUNITIES (29-34)

APPENDIX C: RDA-RELATED SYMPOSIA SCHEDULED AT PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS IN 1994 (35-36)