Define Nutritional Requirements and Recommended Allowances for Proteins and Amino Acids?
The FAO/WHO Committee (1973) expressed the protein requirements in terms of egg or milk proteins. The committee defined safe level of protein intake as 'the amount necessary to meet the physiological needs and maintain the health of nearly all the individuals in a specified age/sex group.'
The committee followed three procedures in arriving at the protein requirements:
1) Amino acid requirements,
2) The factorial method, in which the obligatory nitrogen losses and N required for growth, pregnancy and lactation are estimated, and
3) Measurements of minimum protein intake required for satisfactory growth and N balance in infants and children and N equilibrium in adults.