JRC-IRMM has released a reference material which will enable food-testing laboratories to reliably detect and quantify a number of water and fat soluble vitamins in whole milk powder.
The European legislation on “nutrition labelling” for food products (Directive 90/496/EEC and successive amendments) comprises vitamins among the nutrients included in the labels. The compliance with the European and other existing international legislations on the vitamin contents implies the need of sufficiently accurate methods for their determination. In this frame a new certified reference material is now available: vitamins A, B1, B2, B12, C and E mass fractions are certified in whole milk powder (ERM-BD600). Indicative values are attributed for the mass fractions of niacin and total folate, and additional material information is provided for vitamins B6 and D3. Milk powder was chosen for the matrix format, as dairy products constitute a significant portion of food consumption.
The reference material is intended to be used for method validation purposes (trueness estimation) and method performance control. The certified and indicative values for ERM-BD600 are 3.8 ± 0.6 mg/kg for vitamin A (all-trans-retinol), 4.1 ± 0.8 mg/kg for vitamin A (all-trans-retinol and 13-cis-retinol), 4.5 ± 0.6 mg/kg for vitamin B1, 16.7 ± 1.4 mg/kg for vitamin B2, 0.32 ± 0.07 mg/kg for vitamin B12, 74 ± 11 mg/kg for vitamin C, 86 ± 15 mg/kg for vitamin E, 8.0 ± 2.8 mg/kg for niacin and 0.55 ± 0.16 mg/kg for total folate. The values are based on an inter-laboratory characterisation study; the uncertainty values contain contributions from the characterisation study and the homogeneity and stability assessment. In the majority of the cases the values are operationally defined by the methodology used for the determination. The material has been processed and certified in accordance to ISO Guides 34 and 35. Details about the material processing and certification are described in the certification report, which can be accessed in the online catalogue.