Food Industry Product Information Form (PIF)

The Product Information Form (PIF) is an industry-agreed general questionnaire intended to be used by companies to provide a wide variety of information about ingredients, their composition, the presence of allergens and other general information.

The PIF is intended to permit all ingredient suppliers and food manufacturers to use this single document to satisfy their information needs to meet the legal obligations under Food Standards and Consumer protection requirements.

Latest Version – PIF 5.0

PIF 5.0 2011.xls is the finalised Excel version of the form was released on 01 October 2011, incorporating a number of changes to content, layout and improved functionality over the previous PIF 4.3. A further update to PIF 5.0 2011.xls was released on 01 December 2011 which made minor changes to clarify the type of information that is required or how the information is used by the form.

The latest December 2011 version of the form is still called PIF 5.0 2011.xls as there have been no changes to any data input fields and no new questions added to the form. As far as possible this latest releases fixes a number of minor malfunctions and technical problem identified with the 01 October release of the form. We remain committed NOT to introduce any modifications to PIF 5.0 before 01 October 2012, unless mandated government regulatory requirements.

The version of the form used for printing a blank form to fill in manually in hard copy is called PrintOnly PIF 5.0 2011.xls. Some minor changes have also been made to this form to ensure consistency between the print-only version and the interactive version of the Excel form that is competed by on-screen.

Data Migration Tool

The data migration tool has been upgraded to provide two data migration maps and to enable data to be moved from either PIF 4.3 or to move from the initial release of PIF 5.0 into the latest December 2011 edition of PIF 5.0. The PIF User Guide provides detailed step-by-step instructions on how to use the PIF convert tool and the data migration maps.

Industry transition to new PIF

Implementation and adoption of the new PIF is at the discretion of suppliers and their customers as it is not only a matter of being able to provide the new PIF but also for customer’s systems to be able to accept the new PIF. Companies are encouraged to undertake a transition program to the new PIF 5.0 form within the context of normal updates to product specifications and data requirements, and that such a transition may reasonably take several months.

The updated PIF 5.0 forms, the PIF convert tool and the two data migration maps for PIF 4.3 and for PIF 5.0 are all contained in the PIF 5.0 December 2011 zip file.

DOWNLOAD the PIF 5.0 Zip file [ZIP 1.3 MB]

PIF 5.0 User Guide

The PIF 5.0 User Guide has been developed to provide detailed instructions on how to use the PIF Excel on-screen form, and to provide clarification and advice on the intent of the questions contained in the form.

While changes to the PIF 5.0 2011.xls form and are not anticipated, periodic updates to the PIF 5.0 User Guide may occur, dependent on feedback on the use of PIF and the intent of questions. The PIF 5.0 User Guide has been updated to incorporate further detailed instructions on using PIF convert tool and also some revisions on the definitions and the declaration of ‘particulates’ in relation to Section 3.4.2 on cross contact allergens, incorporating advice from the Allergen Bureau.

The next scheduled release of the PIF 5.0 User Guide will be May 2012, dependent on further advice from the Allergen Bureau following the pilot trial of VITAL 2.0, and any other additional feedback from PIF users.

DOWNLOAD the PIF 5.0 User Guide December 2011 [PDF 3.7 MB]

To ensure that you have access to the latest information about PIF and the User Guide, the AFGC has established a PIF email list provided absolutely FREE of charge. To be included on the PIF e-list, please contact the Secretariat via email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it