Food News

In November 2025, a working group of the Food Chemistry Society (LChG), a specialist group of the German Chemical Society (GDCh), fundamentally revised and published the vitamin conversion tables.

Since 2001, with an initial revision in 2006, the vitamin conversion tables have served as a technical reference for calculating the activity of various vitamins. Although the tables are not legally binding, they represent an authoritative standard in practice for manufacturers, processing companies, testing laboratories, and supervisory authorities.

The update was carried out against the backdrop of:

• new scientific findings
• newly added vitamin compounds
• vitamin compounds that are no longer in use

The aim is to establish a scientifically sound and harmonised basis for evaluating, declaring and analysing vitamins.

Significant changes for vitamin E

The most significant changes relate to vitamin E. The working group has adopted the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) assessment that only α-tocopherols exhibit vitamin E activity.

Consequences:

• The conversion factors for β-, γ- and δ-tocopherols and tocotrienols have been removed.
• The conversion factor for DL-α-tocopherol to D-α-tocopherol (the active form of vitamin E) has been reduced from 0.74 to 0.5.
• The factor for DL-α-tocopheryl acetate has also been adjusted.

In practical terms, reducing the factor from 0.74 to 0.5 equates to a reduction of around one third. Formulations with DL-α-tocopherol as the starting compound will require a significantly higher amount in future to maintain the same declared vitamin E content.

Changes to folic acid

The folic acid/folate equivalent tables have been updated to reflect the latest scientific and regulatory information. Newly added compounds, such as calcium L-methylfolate and (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid glucosamine salt, have been included. This takes into account the growing popularity of different forms of folate in food supplements and fortified foods.

Significance for manufacturers and quality control

Correctly converting vitamin compounds into their active forms is essential for:

• Legally compliant labelling
• Plausibility checks as part of internal control
• Specification evaluations
• Official monitoring by authorities

Incorrect or outdated conversion factors can lead to incorrect declarations, which carries a risk of complaints.

We therefore recommend:

• Reviewing existing formulations
• Updating internal calculation tools and specifications
• Adjusting test plans and declaration bases
• Evaluating current products with regard to possible relabelling requirements.

YOUR PLUS: We assist you with the analytical evaluation of your products and the technical classification of the new conversion factors.

Author: Dr. Katja Fuchs, AGROLAB GROUP