The Sodium Daily Value on a Nutrition Label
The sodium Daily Value is 2,300 mg, and it is a DRV. The rounding ladder in 101.9(c)(4), which amount you divide before computing the percentage, and why sodium is not salt for labeling purposes.
The nutrition label Daily Value sodium figure is 2,300 mg, and that single number drives the whole sodium row of a Nutrition Facts panel. What far fewer people can say is what kind of reference value it is, how the milligram figure above it gets rounded before anyone divides anything, and why it has nothing to do with whether you may print "low sodium" on the front of the package.
This article covers the reference value and the arithmetic: where 2,300 mg comes from, the rounding ladder in 21 CFR 101.9(c)(4), how the percentage is computed, what the regulation says about salt versus sodium, and why the Daily Value and the claim thresholds in 21 CFR 101.61 are separate systems.
The nutrition label Daily Value sodium figure is 2,300 mg, and it is a DRV
The number comes from the Daily Reference Value table in 21 CFR 101.9(c)(9): 2,300 mg for adults and children 4 or more years of age, 1,500 mg for children 1 through 3 years, not applicable for infants through 12 months, and 2,300 mg for pregnant and lactating women.
The distinction that matters is that sodium has a DRV and not an RDI. Reference Daily Intakes, in 101.9(c)(8)(iv), cover vitamins and minerals. Daily Reference Values, in 101.9(c)(9), cover the macronutrients and other food components: total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, total carbohydrate, sodium, dietary fiber, protein and added sugars. "Daily Value" is the umbrella word the label uses for both.
Sodium is a mineral in chemistry and a food component in the regulation, and the regulation wins. Under 101.9(d)(8) the vitamin and mineral block is set off by a bar, and the parenthetical there reads "except sodium": sodium is declared between cholesterol and total carbohydrate. So its percentage rounds to the nearest whole percent under 101.9(d)(7)(ii), not on the stepped 2, 5 and 10 percent ladder that 101.9(c)(8)(iii) applies to vitamins and minerals, and it never uses the "Contains less than 2 percent of the Daily Value" asterisk, which belongs to the RDI nutrients.
The 2,300 mg figure is a labeling reference, not a target to hit. The dietary guidance behind it points the other way: the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released on 7 January 2026, keep the recommendation at less than 2,300 mg per day for ages 14 and older, with lower limits for younger children. FDA has stated that average intake in the United States is about 3,400 mg per day, and that more than 70 percent of it comes from commercially processed, packaged and prepared foods. That gap is why the agency also runs a set of voluntary sodium reduction targets, guidance rather than a labeling rule, covered in their own article.
Two population cases matter. A product marketed for children 1 through 3 years divides by 1,500 mg, which raises every sodium percentage by more than half. And under 101.9(j)(5), labels for infants through 12 months show no percent Daily Value for sodium and carry no footnote. The other reference values sit side by side in the FDA Daily Value chart.
The sodium rounding ladder in 101.9(c)(4)
Before any percentage is calculated, the milligram figure has to be rounded for declaration. 21 CFR 101.9(c)(4) gives sodium a three-zone ladder. Only fluoride, voluntary under 101.9(c)(5), is built the same way.
| Sodium in one serving | Declare | Step size |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 5 mg | Zero | Not applicable |
| 5 mg to 140 mg | Nearest 5 mg increment | 5 mg |
| Greater than 140 mg | Nearest 10 mg increment | 10 mg |
Cholesterol, the nutrient directly above it, rounds to the nearest 5 mg under 101.9(c)(3), with two carve-outs at the bottom: under 2 mg it need not be declared and may be stated as zero, and from 2 to 5 mg it may be stated as less than 5 milligrams. Sodium changes step size partway up, and the gram-based nutrients differ again; the full set is in FDA rounding rules explained. Three things about the sodium ladder catch people out.
The zero is a declaration, not a measurement. A serving with 4.6 mg declares as 0 mg, and nothing on the panel distinguishes that from 0.0 mg. It is a rounding instruction, not a statement that the food is sodium free.
The 140 mg boundary is inclusive on the low side. A serving containing exactly 140 mg sits in the 5 to 140 band, so it takes the 5 mg step. The 10 mg step applies only above 140 mg.
The step change can move a value down. A serving with 143 mg is greater than 140, so the 10 mg step applies and it declares as 140 mg. Had the 5 mg step continued it would have declared as 145 mg. That is the usual reason a hand recalculation comes out 5 mg above the printed label.
Working three servings through the ladder
Here are the three values from the figure, taken end to end. Each is an unrounded analytical amount per labeled serving, taken after a full-precision roll-up and division by the servings.
| Analytical amount | Zone | Declared | Raw % from unrounded | Declared %DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 mg | Less than 5 mg | 0 mg | 0.13% | 0% |
| 118 mg | 5 to 140 mg | 120 mg | 5.13% | 5% |
| 483 mg | Greater than 140 mg | 480 mg | 21.00% | 21% |
Take the middle row slowly. The serving holds 118 mg, inside the 5 to 140 band, so the candidate rungs are 115 and 120; 118 is closer to 120. The percentage is 118 divided by 2,300, times 100, which is 5.13 percent, declared as 5% DV. The bottom row crosses into the 10 mg zone: 483 mg sits between the rungs 480 and 490 and declares as 480 mg, and 483 divided by 2,300 is 21.00 percent exactly, declared as 21% DV.
How the sodium %DV is computed, and which amount you divide
The formula is the amount of sodium in one serving divided by the Daily Value, times 100. The rounding instruction is in 101.9(d)(7)(ii): the percent for DRV nutrients is expressed to the nearest whole percent. There is no stepped ladder for the percentage and no minimum below which the row disappears.
The same paragraph settles the question that causes most disagreement between two people calculating the same panel. It says the percent "shall be calculated by dividing either the amount declared on the label for each nutrient or the actual amount of each nutrient (i.e., before rounding) by the DRV for the nutrient". Both bases are permitted. Choose one, write it into your labeling specification, and apply it consistently. Most of the time they agree, because rounding displaces the value by at most 2.5 mg in the 5 mg zone, about 0.11 percentage points. In the 10 mg zone it reaches 5 mg, about 0.22 percentage points, and divergences become easy to find.
Here is one. A serving contains 634 mg of sodium, which is above 140 and so declares as 630 mg. Divide the unrounded amount and 634 over 2,300 is 27.57 percent, declaring as 28% DV. Divide the declared amount and 630 over 2,300 is 27.39 percent, declaring as 27% DV. Two compliant percentages a point apart, and neither is wrong. What would be wrong is picking the unrounded basis on one row and the declared basis on the next because the numbers look better. Our %DV calculator shows the raw percentage next to the declared one, so you can see when a row sits on a boundary.
The footnote required by 101.9(d)(9) completes the picture: "2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice." That reference is what most of the DRVs in 101.9(c)(9) are built on. Products for children 1 through 3 substitute "1,000 calories" and use the 1,500 mg sodium DRV.
Sodium is not salt, and the regulation gives no conversion factor
The panel declares sodium. It does not declare salt, and the two are not interchangeable. 21 CFR 101.61(c) states it directly: "The term 'salt' is not synonymous with 'sodium.' Salt refers to sodium chloride. However, references to salt content such as 'unsalted,' 'no salt,' 'no salt added' are potentially misleading."
That is the whole of what the regulation says about the relationship. It defines salt as sodium chloride and warns that salt-based wording can mislead, but supplies no factor for converting grams of salt into milligrams of sodium. The FDA sources reviewed for this article state none, so this article states none: take the sodium contribution of the salt in your formula from your ingredient specification or your analytical result.
The consequences are concrete. 101.61(c)(1) allows "salt free" only if the food is "sodium free" under 101.61(b)(1). 101.61(c)(2) allows "unsalted", "without added salt" and "no salt added" only if no salt is added during processing, the food it resembles is normally processed with salt, and, when the food is not sodium free, "not a sodium free food" or "not for control of sodium in the diet" appears adjacent to the nutrition label. A no-salt-added product can still carry several hundred milligrams of naturally occurring sodium, and the ladder above declares every one of them.
The Daily Value and the claim thresholds are separate systems
The 2,300 mg Daily Value decides what percentage prints in the right-hand column. It does not decide whether you may make a sodium claim. Those thresholds live in 21 CFR 101.61, are stated in absolute milligrams rather than percentages, and are mostly measured per reference amount customarily consumed, not per labeled serving.
| Claim | Individual foods | Meals and main dishes |
|---|---|---|
| Sodium free, no sodium, zero sodium | Less than 5 mg per RACC and per labeled serving, plus the ingredient condition in 101.61(b)(1)(ii) | Less than 5 mg per labeled serving |
| Very low sodium | 35 mg or less per RACC, and per 50 g if the RACC is 30 g or 2 tbsp or less | 35 mg or less per 100 g |
| Low sodium | 140 mg or less per RACC, and per 50 g if the RACC is 30 g or 2 tbsp or less | 140 mg or less per 100 g |
| Reduced sodium, less sodium, lower sodium | At least 25 percent less per RACC than a reference food, which must be named with the milligram comparison | At least 25 percent less per 100 g |
The number 140 appears in both 101.9(c)(4) and 101.61(b)(4), which is confusing. In the rounding rule it is where the declaration step widens from 5 mg to 10 mg; in the claim rule it is the ceiling for "low sodium". Different provisions, different jobs, and the second is not measured on the declared value at all.
That point can bite. A serving contains 144 mg of sodium. It is above 140, so the 10 mg step applies and the label prints 140 mg, which looks as though the product lands exactly on the "low sodium" line. It does not: the test in 101.61(b)(4) is applied to the actual content per reference amount, and 144 is more than 140. A declared 35 mg can likewise come from an actual 36 mg and fail "very low sodium". Test claims against unrounded amounts per RACC.
Two points of scope. The shorthand that 5 percent DV or less is low and 20 percent DV or more is high is FDA consumer guidance for reading a label, not a rule in 101.9 or 101.61, and what counts as a high-sodium food is handled in its own article. And in the front-of-package "Nutrition Info" proposal published on 16 January 2025 at 90 FR 5426, FDA proposed lowering "low sodium" to 115 mg. That is proposed only; until it is finalized the binding number remains 140 mg.
What to check on your own sodium row
- Confirm the population column: 2,300 mg for adults and children 4 and older, 1,500 mg for children 1 through 3, no sodium percentage on infant labels.
- Round once, at the end, and check which side of 140 mg you are on before choosing the step.
- Fix your percentage basis: declared or unrounded, one of them, documented, everywhere.
- Keep the unrounded number, which you need for any claim and whenever the serving size differs from the reference amount.
- Do not read a claim off the panel. A declared 0 mg is not proof of "sodium free", and a declared 140 mg is not proof of "low sodium".
If you would rather not maintain the ladder and the percentage basis by hand on every formula revision, the nutrition label generator applies 101.9(c)(4) and the whole-percent rule to your sodium row and keeps the unrounded value behind it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Daily Value for sodium on a nutrition label?
2,300 mg for adults and children 4 or more years of age, set in the Daily Reference Value table at 21 CFR 101.9(c)(9). The same table gives 1,500 mg for children 1 through 3 years, 2,300 mg for pregnant and lactating women, and no value for infants. Divide by whichever figure matches how the product is marketed.
Is the sodium Daily Value an RDI or a DRV?
A DRV, a Daily Reference Value. RDIs are the vitamin and mineral values in 101.9(c)(8)(iv); DRVs are the food-component values in 101.9(c)(9), where sodium sits with total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, protein and added sugars. That is why the sodium percentage rounds to the nearest whole percent rather than on the stepped ladder, and why sodium appears in the upper block of the panel.
Should I calculate the percentage from the rounded milligrams or the raw ones?
Either is permitted. 101.9(d)(7)(ii) allows the percent to be calculated from the declared amount or from the actual amount before rounding. Choose one, record it in your labeling specification and use it everywhere. In the 10 mg zone the two can differ by a full percentage point: a 634 mg serving declares as 630 mg and gives 28% DV from the unrounded amount, 27% DV from the declared one.
How do I convert salt to sodium?
The FDA regulations reviewed here do not give a conversion factor. 21 CFR 101.61(c) says only that salt is not synonymous with sodium and that salt refers to sodium chloride. Take the sodium contribution of salt and of every other sodium-bearing ingredient from your ingredient specifications or from an analysis of the finished food.
Does declaring 0 mg of sodium let me say "sodium free"?
No. The zero is a rounding outcome under 101.9(c)(4) for any serving holding less than 5 mg, including 4.6 mg. The claim in 101.61(b)(1) requires less than 5 mg per reference amount customarily consumed and per labeled serving, and additionally that the food contain no ingredient that is sodium chloride or is generally understood to contain sodium, unless that ingredient is asterisked to a statement such as "Adds a trivial amount of sodium". The claim test is the stricter one.
Does the 2,300 mg Daily Value mean I should eat 2,300 mg a day?
It is a labeling reference used to compute percentages, not a recommended intake. The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released on 7 January 2026, recommend less than 2,300 mg per day for ages 14 and older, with lower limits for younger children. FDA puts average United States intake at about 3,400 mg per day.
