Q. Which Vitamin A field to I enter data in?
In the ESHA database: There are several Vitamin A fields.
"Vitamin A RE" is expressed in units "mcg." And there is "A-Carotenoid" and "A-Retinol" which are both expressed in units "RE".
For a US 1990 label, enter Vitamin A in the IU field.
For a US 2016 regulation label, enter Vitamin A in the RAE field.
For a Canadian 2003 label, enter Vitamin A in the RE field.
For a Canadian 2016 label, enter Vitamin A in the RAE field.
You can sometimes convert Vitamin A from one unit to another.
Vitamin A conversion factors depend on the source of the Vitamin A.
IU to RE:
If Vitamin A is from all plant source, IU / 10 = RE.
If Vitamin A is from all animal source, IU / 3.33 = RE
If Vitamin A is from mixed source, IU / 5 = RE
IU to RAE:
Animal source: retinol
- Unit conversion: 1 mcg RAE = 3.33 IU
- Calculation: IU/3.33 = mcg RAE
(divide the number of IUs by 3.33)
Plant source: beta-carotene equivalents from food
- Unit conversion: 1 mcg RAE = 20 IU
- Calculation: IU/20 = mcg RAE
(divide the number of IUs by 20)
Plant source: beta-carotene from a supplement source
- Unit conversion: 1 mcg RAE = 3.33 IU
- Calculation: IU/3.33 = mcg RAE
(divide the number of IUs by 3.33)
Plant source: alpha-carotene or beta-cryptoxanthin
- Unit conversion: 1 mcg RAE = 40 IU
- Calculation: IU/40 = mcg RAE
(divide the number of IUs by 40)
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