ALINORM 04/27/23
APPENDIX VII
THE USE OF ANALYTICAL RESULTS: SAMPLING PLANS, RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ANALYTICAL RESULTS, THE MEASUREMENT UNCERTAINTY, RECOVERY FACTORS AND PROVISIONS IN CODEX STANDARDS
There are a number of analytical and sampling considerations which prevent the uniform implementation of legislative standards. In particular, different approaches may be taken regarding sampling procedures, the use of measurement uncertainty and recovery corrections.
At present there is no official guidance on how to interpret analytical results across the Codex Community. Significantly different decisions may be taken after analysis of the “same sample”. For example some countries use an “every-item-must-comply” sampling regime, others use an “average of a lot” regime, some deduct the measurement uncertainty associated with the result, others do not, some countries correct analytical results for recovery, others do not. This interpretation may also be affected by the number of significant figures included in any commodity specification.
It is essential analytical results are interpreted in the same way if there is to be equivalence across the Codex Community.
It is stressed that this is not an analysis or sampling problem as such but an administrative problem which has been highlighted as the result of recent activities in the analytical sector, most notably the development of International Guidelines on the Use of Recovery Factors when Reporting Analytical Results and various Guides prepared dealing with Measurement Uncertainty.
It is recommended that when a Codex Commodity Committee discusses and agrees on a commodity specification and the analytical methods concerned, it states the following information in the Codex Standard:
The appropriate sampling plan to control conformity of products with the specification. This should state:
§ whether the specification applies to every item in a lot, to the average in a lot or the proportion non-conforming;
§ the appropriate acceptable quality level to be used;
§ the acceptance conditions of a lot controlled, in relation to the qualitative/quantitative characteristic determined on the sample.
That an allowance is to be made for the measurement uncertainty when deciding whether or not an analytical result falls within the specification. This requirement may not apply in situations when a direct health hazard is concerned, such as for food pathogens.
3. Recovery
[Where relevant and appropriate the analytical results are to be reported on a recovery corrected basis and that the recovery should be quoted in any analytical report.]
4. Significant Figures
The units in which the results are to be expressed and the number of significant figures to be included in the reported result.
