The amount of a food additive that could be taken daily for an entire lifespan without appreciable risk. Determined by measuring the highest dose of the substance that has no effect on experimental animals, then dividing by a safety factor of 100.
Estimation of the maximum allowable level of a food component or contaminant. These values serve as guides in health policy. For noncarcinogenic compounds, the ADI is derived from the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) determined in experimental animals. NOAEL is divided by safety factors (e.g., 10 for taking into account the extrapolation from animals to humans and 10 for taking into account a susceptible human subpopulation such as infants), resulting in an integral safety factor of 100.
That quantity of chemical residue contained in food and thought to be harmless even when consumed daily for life. The chemical residue may be a food additive, e.g., a preservative, or an antibiotic, antifungal, or a small quantity of pesticide. ADIs apply solely to residues of chemicals used intentionally by agricultural businesses in food production. ADI is expressed as mg/kg (bw)/d (milligrams of residue per kilogram body weight per day). Chemicals that enter the human food supply unintentionally are called contaminants, not residues.
An estimation by the Food and Drug Administration regarding the daily amount of a non-nutritive sweetener that can be consumed safely over a lifetime without harmful effects.