What is ISO/TR 23304 about?
ISO/TR 23304 specifies guidelines on how to express vitamin quantity, the expression of different molecular forms in appropriate forms and in some cases vitamin activity, according to vitamers present or used in food products in addition to the quantitative content determination obtained from ISO and CEN analytical standards.
ISO/TR 23304 specifies information regarding the vitamin content in order to facilitate harmonization between different laboratories and also to reduce misunderstanding of the results expressed in vitamin content and in some cases in the vitamin activity of vitamers.
Who is ISO/TR 23304 for?
ISO/TR 23304 on food products is relevant to:
- Manufacturers of food products
- Food control laboratories
- Testing and quality control departments
- Nutritional testing agencies
- Regulatory bodies
Why should you use ISO/TR 23304?
Vitamins can be naturally found in foods in different molecular forms. In more elaborated food products, vitamins can be used for fortification by adding several molecular forms with different levels of vitamin activity. There are regulations governing the addition of vitamins in food products. The authorized compounds for fortification depend on the type of food. Regulation deals with, for instance baby food or food supplements. The main problem is that the vitamin activities of the authorized compounds are not clearly described. Moreover, it is not mandatory to list the chemical name of the compound used for food fortification purposes according to food labelling regulations.
ISO and CEN analytical standards express results in mass units related to the vitamin standard used for quantification. As expression in specific units of vitamin activity can be linked to regional/national regulatory requirements, analytical methods do not give guidance for this conversion.
Thus, the standardised ways to express vitamin content in compliance with ISO/TR 23304 helps establish uniformity and consistency in expression of results.
ISO/TR 23304 helps in facilitating harmonization between food control laboratories, thus preventing any misunderstanding of results.
