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Vitamin A fields

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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