Dear VITAL User,
On Tuesday 13 August VITAL® Online was updated from V3.1.9 (previous version) to V4.0.0 (updated version). The change is taking place at 12.00am in the time zone of each jurisdiction.
VITAL Calculator version no.: 4.0.0 changes:
- Based on FAO/WHO Expert Panel ED05 Reference Doses (RfD)
- Includes Legislated European Values
- Additional Canadian Jurisdiction
- VITAL 3.0 Reference Doses inclusion – Action Level Grid only
- Additional Risk Management Value for Mollusc
- Pop-up reminder for VITAL particulates definition
- Regrouping of tree nuts (to ED05 values)
- Change to ordering of allergens (alphabetical order)
- Default setting for jurisdiction (account owner functionality)
- Amended terminology from “legislation” to “jurisdiction” and change to ordering of jurisdiction (alphabetical order)
- Update to VITAL Online Pricing and Website Terms and Conditions
Attention Account Owners:
- The VITAL Online Website Terms and Conditions have been updated and new pricing will apply to subscriptions from August 13th. Click here for VITAL Online Pricing.
- VITAL Online Version 4.0.0 update shows the amended labelling outcome for ED05. This update will cause all recipes to be marked as outdated. This can be resolved by the Account Owner utilising the Update All functionality. When the update is complete, a summary of the changes will be shown.
- The Comparison of Recipe Versions functionality will assist VITAL Online account owners to track changes to allergen status and labelling outcomes for different revisions (versions) of a recipe which may be affected due to this change.
- Previous version history remains intact.
Q. Where to find more information about the science of VITAL 4.0?
A. Supporting documents have been developed for this change. VITAL 4.0 Summary and FAQ includes the science, how this translates to customers and what industry needs to focus on.
Q. How can recipes which may have a changed labelling outcome be identified?
A. Account Owners and Account Users can track changes to the recipe using the Comparison of Recipe Versions functionality. This provides all changes in a single report.
Q. Can I still use ED01?
A. VITAL 4.0 will use a RfD based on ED05 as these are the values recommended by the FAO/WHO Expert Committee, which examined the science and risks very closely. The Allergen Bureau realises, that there may be specific circumstances where a comparison with ED01 is required. To cater for this, the VITAL 3.0 Reference Doses have been included into the Action Level Grid functionality, so users can generate Action Level Grids for comparison purposes if required.
Q. How can the VITAL 3.0 Reference Doses Action Level Grid be used to compare changes from ED01 to ED05?
A. How to create an Action Level Grid report:
- Click the Action Level Grid button on the top right-hand side of the calculator (next to new recipe).
- Select “VITAL 3.0 Reference Doses” as the jurisdiction.
- Enter your Reference Amount.
- Generate the Action Level Grid report.
- Compare it to your VITAL 4.0 Report (ED05).
- Action Level Grids should be used for comparative purposes only.
- This function is not intended to be used in isolation or in conjunction with analytical results alone to determine if a PAL is required.
Q. What are the Legislated European Values added in VITAL 4.0?
A. To support businesses supplying products with the same recipe to different European countries, where legislated, and values differ, they have been added at the bottom of tables and reports shown in the European jurisdiction. These values are for consideration in that specific country’s jurisdiction only.
Q. Why has a pop-up been added displaying the definition of particulates when this selected?
A. For the purpose of VITAL, a particulate refers to a food material which:
- does not mix homogenously with other parts of the food; and
- consists of, or is likely to aggregate into, an entity which contains equal to or greater than the relevant Reference Dose.
This pop-up has been added as a reminder for users when they enter allergen information in their Ingredients, Recipes and/or Processing profiles. Pre-work is required by the user to ensure that the particulate contains a concentration of protein from the allergenic food that is greater than the Reference Dose. If you would like more information on how to determine this, please contact the Allergen Bureau or one of our endorsed training providers.
Q. Will the change of ordering of allergens to an alphabetical order affect my existing values?
A. No, this change will only affect the order of the allergens in the VITAL tool selection and as shown in the report.
Q. Will the change of grouping of the tree nut allergens affect my recipes?
A. The tree nut values have changed to the ED05 VITAL 4.0 values. This required regrouping of the tree nuts to have those with the same value within the same group. When present, the individual values within that group will be added up into a total group value. This will affect recipes with tree nuts. The Comparison of Recipe Versions functionality will track the changes.
Q. How do I set my default jurisdiction?
A. The default jurisdiction for an organisation can only be set by the Account Owner. The default jurisdiction selector can be found in the bottom section of the Organisation Details. Note that users are still able to select any jurisdiction within VITAL Online when selecting an Ingredient or Recipe.
Please find more information on the Allergen Bureau website.
If you have any further questions, please contact the Allergen Bureau on info@allergenbureau.net.
