RESUMO
The Venezuelan Food Composition Table (VFCT) is being revised for the publication of the ninth edition within the Venezuelan Food Project. The majority of the RE values for plant foods given in the VFCT were taken from previous editions (1964-1973) and with few exceptions, still remains the same in the latest edition of 1994. These values were calculated from the total carotenoid content of food, determined by an open column method with no separation of the various carotenoids that might be present in the food. Recently it has been suggested that the accepted factors to convert beta-carotene and other carotenoids to RE (1/6 and 1/12, respectively) do not reflect the reality and the apparent mean vitamin A activity of leafy vegetables and carrot would be around 23% and fruits about 50% of that assumed until now. Percentages of the Venezuelan RDAs for vitamin A were calculated from vitamin A intake supplied by food consumption surveys, using the conversion factors corrected according to the above mentioned criteria. Percentages of the Venezuelan RDAs were again calculated with the vitamin A availability given by the Food Balance Sheet (1997), using two levels of RE in carrots: 2,800 ER and 850 ER. Results in these approaches differ markedly and indicate that the vitamin A nutrition status may be overestimated. If confirmed, this situation could influence the criteria and decisions in regard to food fortification and other strategies for controlling vitamin A deficiency.