PAS 235:2022 Provitamin A carotenoids (PVAC) enriched maize grain, cassava and sweet potato roots – Specification

Setting targets for vitamin enrichment

What’s happened and why?

HarvestPlus, a division of the International Food Policy Research Institute, has developed a conventional plant breeding process that results in increased levels of minerals and vitamins in seeds and grain. Since this increases the nutritional value of staple foodstuffs, PAS 235:2022 has been produced to help accelerate the adoption of this methodology by setting targets for the levels of vitamin A required for maize, cassava and sweet potato to be designated as “nutrient enriched”.

What does PAS 235:2022 cover?

It specifies requirements for provitamin A enriched maize grain (Zea mays), cassava root (Manihot esculenta) and sweet potato root (Ipomoea batatas) intended as food for human consumption, including for class levels of PVAC concentration, sampling guidance, packaging and labelling.

Why use PAS 235:2022?

The PAS aims to make life easier for anyone producing, procuring, selling or processing provitamin A enriched crops for human consumption by making it universally understood what constitutes “nutrient enriched”.