B12 breakthrough

Many 'energising' soft drink brands include vitamin B12 added at levels around 0.1-0.2μg/100ml, a concentration well below the detection capabilities of most laboratories. This presents a problem for the industry in claims substantiation, since most tests would give a 'less than detection limit' result when testing for vitamin B12 at these levels.

Scientists working at Reading Scientific Services Ltd (RSSL) now have a method for quantifying vitamin B12 that is sensitive and accurate down to 0.02μg/100ml. This is a major step forward in vitamins analysis, and the method is validated and UKAS accredited.

RSSL won't be releasing any details of the methodology, except to say the final analysis is performed on Biacore instrumentation, which has also enabled RSSL to provide accurate and sensitive tests for other B vitamins such as biotin and folic acid.

"It's a significant breakthrough," says Marta Ahijado of RSSL's functional ingredients laboratory. "Clients can now provide reliable data to support labelling claims in respect of one of their key ingredients, where it was once impossible to do so."