Vitamins

Vitamins are essential (life-giving and vital) nutritional elements as they undertake important functions in the human organism. Alongside the natural occuring vitamins, synthetic vitamins are also added to foodstuffs during the production and processing stages.

Declaration of these vitamins in Switzerland depends on the product and is laid down in the “FDHA Ordinance on the Addition of Vitamins, Minerals and other Substances to Foodstuffs (AVMO)” and in the “FDHA Ordinance on Foodstuffs for Persons with Special Dietary Requirements (SDRO)”. 

Do you require content determination of vitamins performed by an accredited Swiss contract laboratory? 
We will test all vitamins for you in accordance with internationally recognized, or from your internally developed methods - quickly, competently and reliably.

Would you like to know which points you should observe when contracting out your analyses? Do you know the differences for analysis that can result from the addition of the various vitamin derivatives?  

What are vitamins, provitamins and vitaminoids?

Vitamins are organic compounds that are required by the human organism for life-giving vital (essential) functions but cannot be produced, or can be produced but not in sufficient quantities by metabolism. Therefore, they must be taken in regularly as food, either as complete vitamins or as provitamins which can then be transformed into the corresponding vitamins. In contrast to the essential fatty acids and essential amino acids, vitamins serve neither as a body constituent nor as an energy supplier, instead they are involved primarily in catalytic functions (coenzymes) or controlling functions (hormone-like substances). Therefore, only very small amounts of vitamins are required for their physiological effects. A total of 13 substances posses these characteristics and they are divided into water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins depending on their physical characteristics:

Vitaminoids

The simple definition of vitamins above should enable an unambiguous and doubt-free classification. Even nowadays however, active ingredients are still classified as vitamins even though they do not fulfil the definition of a vitamin, partly due to ignorance of their pharmacological characteristics, but also as a result of strategic marketing considerations. These so-called vitaminoids possess characteristics that are similar to vitamins and are contained in foodstuffs. In contract to vitamins however, they are also produced by the body. Some of these vitaminoids have been listed as examples in the following list:

• L-carnitine and combined carnitine (acetyl-carnitine)
• Inosit
• Choline
• Taurine
• Ubichinon (coenzyme Q)
   

Provitamins

Provitamins however are still ineffective preliminary stages of vitamins and must first be transformed into vitamins in the organism for them to be of use to the body. Some examples of provitamins are the following compounds:

• Beta-carotene (provitamin A)
• Ergosterol (provitamin D2)
   

Why should the vitamin content of foodstuffs be analytically monitored?

Vitamins have an essential function in nutrition and as a result are added in a targeted manner during the foodstuff manufacturing and processing stages for technological, nutritional and physiological reasons, alongside the naturally occurring vitamins that are already present.

In the event of insufficient intake of vitamins, hypovitaminosis can occur (deficiencies such as scurvy occur with a lack of vitamin C or rickets with a lack of vitamin D), and in later stages avitaminosis (severe forms of deficiencies) appears that can lead to death.

But it is not only hypovitaminosis that is critical. A too high content, particularly of the fat-soluble vitamins, can also cause problems. After being absorbed from food, vitamins are stored in the fatty tissue of the body for a long period of time, that can lead to toxic effects (hypervitaminosis). Too high doses of soluble vitamins are less problematic because they are excreted from the body again quickly.

2. Microencapsulation of the Vitamins

As a result of the well-known loss of vitamins from external influences, protective microencapsulations are used, particularly in highly concentrated vitamin premixes that enter into the production of foodstuffs, to prevent losses during the production stage. These microencapsulations are extremely stable and have not been cracked during the vitamin routine analysis stage, which would have led to findings of vitamins being greatly lower than expected in the analysis. In such cases, a special additional sample homogenisation will be carried out using a ball mill, so this information is helpful for sample preparation in the laboratory.
 

3. Types of application for the vitamins used

It is important to know which vitamin has been added specifically during production as this has a direct influence over the analyses’ methods to be selected, the way that this method will be carried out, or the calculation of the result. Examples on this subject:

• Different methods of analysis for vitamin K₁ (Phylloquinone) and vitamin K₃(Menadione)
• Different implementation of the analysis method for vitamin D₂ (Ergocalciferol) and vitamin D₃ (Cholecalciferol)
• Different methods of analysis for vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and ascorbyl palmitate
• Different methods of analysis for vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) and the tocopherol spectrum (alpha, beta, gamma and delta-tocopherol)
• Was the active form of the vitamin used (e.g. retinol) or was a derivative of the active vitamin form used (e.g. retinyl acetate)? Different calculations of results arise from this.
   

4. Reference Values of the Vitamins

It is helpful to have a reference value for the respective vitamins because this will influence the choice of method. For highly concentrated vitamin premixes, chemical methods such as HPLC-UV are the method of choice. For lower levels of vitamin concentrations in foodstuffs however, the more sensitive biological determinations using the growth of micro-organisms are the better choice. Furthermore, the data on reference values means that the appropriate level of sample dilution can be selected directly for the analytical test to lie within the linear range of the measurement technique. This means that subsequent analyses can be avoided and quicker order processing results. It is also important that the correct unit for the reference value,  e.g. IE or mg, is given.

Our services in detail:

• Consultation on vitamin analysis
• Content determination of vitamins, vitaminoids and provitamins in foodstuffs
• Stability testing of vitamin-containing products
• Additional services are according to the directory of services or upon request.