Dataform: Vitamin A Converter

On the new label, Vitamin A is no longer a mandatory nutrient unless a claim is made. If it is included on the label, then Vitamin A is now reported as Vitamin A RAE (Retinol Activity Equivalents) in units of mcg. The property, Vitamin A RAE (mcg/100g) was added as a default property to the TechWizard Online™ ingredient file. The original TechWizard Online™ property Vitamin A has units of IU (International Units) and is still part of the ingredient file. It is possible to convert Vitamin A (IU/100g) to Vitamin A RAE (mcg/100g).

The factor for conversion of IU to RAE is dependent whether the source is plant or animal (For more information refer to Calculations Used to Convert Vitamins from International Units). Assuming the Vitamin A source is from plants will provide a more conservative result.

Using the New Label Properties Calculator to Convert Vitamin A from IU to Micrograms RAE

The user should already have the ingredient editor open. To do this, please refer to Ingredient Editor – Open the Current Ingredient File. Click the Form button and select Use Data Form.

The Ingredient Data Form appears (see figure below).

Click the Calculate New Label Properties button (A).
In the Select Property window, enter 2 and press the OK button.

The Calculate Vitamin A Values window appears.

Select the Vitamin A source (Animal or Plant) from the drop down (B).
Select ingredients that will have converted values calculated (C).
Click the Calculate button (D). The calculated Vitamin A (mcg RAE) value and the source are shown for each updated ingredient (E).
Repeat for ingredients that have a different source.
Click the Close button (F) when finished. When prompted to keep your updated values select Yes.
Close the Data Form window and select Yes to save your changes.