How is the acceptable daily intake for a food additive calculated from its no-effect level?

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A woman reads the nutrition labels on two brightly colored boxes of cereal. — food additive Labels provide information on a food product's ingredients and nutritional value.

To determine the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for a food additive, scientists first conduct rigorous toxicological analysis, including long-term feeding studies on animal species to monitor for adverse effects such as changes in growth, organ function, or tumor development.1

The highest concentration of the substance that produces no observable toxicological effects in these studies is identified as the no-effect level (NOEL). To establish a safety margin for human consumption, this NOEL is typically divided by a factor of 100 to calculate the maximum acceptable daily intake.1