VITAL and PIF Workshops a Success

The Allergen Bureau partnered with the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) to run a very successful series of workshops on the latest editions of VITAL 2.0 and PIF 5.0 in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland in November. Over 180 participans attended these sessions indicating both the support and interest in these important industry initiatives. Feedback from the session was very positive.

The workshops were presented by members of the Allergen Bureau (Kirsten Grinter, David Henning, Georgina Christensen and Fiona Fleming) and Kim Leighton from the AFGC.

The information discussed covered a range of topics related to new developments for both VITAL and the PIF. The VITAL session commenced with a look back at “The VITAL Journey” – where and how did VITAL start and how this internationally recognised initiative impacted on allergen management. Information from the VITAL Scientific Expert Panel (VSEP) was presented which included a review of the science behind VITAL. To round off this section of the workshop, Georgina then addressed the question on everyone’s lips – “What do the changes to VITAL mean for my business?” The attendees asked interesting and thought-provoking questions about VITAL 2.0 and the planned Pilot phase for this program.

PIF 5.0 was presented by Kim Leighton. This session provided an overview of PIF 5.0, the new features and how the form works. Kim also discussed the data migration tool enabling data to be moved from PIF 4.3 to PIF 5.0. Once again, during this session there were questions from attendees which provided a great opportunity to share experiences.

The Allergen Bureau and the AFGC wish to thank all attendees for braving the early start and for their participation and feedback. These tools have been developed ‘BY Industry, FOR Industry’ and it is only through continued industry support that they will realise their true value and impact.

The presentations from the workshops will be available on the Allergen Bureau website for download at the following link: Presentation Downloads.

The Allergen Bureau and AFGC are currently looking at potential dates for further workshop sessions in 2012. If you missed out on the most recent workshops and are interested in attending in the New Year then please register your interest with the Allergen Bureau by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Contributed by Fiona Fleming