Contribution of the Certified Reference Materials to Food Safety

Introduction: The main purpose is simple, to get safe food on our plates. However the mechanisms in place at the EU to protect its citizens and ensure Food Safety are in fact complex. The process starts by identifying molecules that pose adverse health effects, determined through risk analysis and is followed by regulating the presence of maximum levels of related compounds in foodstuffs. Accordingly, the analytical laboratories measure the compounds for control and monitoring of the levels to ascertain compliance with the legislation before the food products are safely placed in the market.       

Food contaminants, natural or human-made are analysed daily by numerous commercial and official laboratories, using a large variety of analytical methodologies. The laboratories need to provide results that are reliable; hence, they need to demonstrate the good performance of their methods. This may be done by the analysis of certified reference materials (CRMs). When a CRM is measured following the laboratory's protocol and the result obtained is statistically equivalent to the value certified in the material, the laboratory is automatically demonstrating the satisfactory quality of their analyses according to internationally accepted standards that also provide traceability and commutability of their processes.

Regulated contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mycotoxins or pesticides, and emerging contaminants, still not regulated in food, notably perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) or acrylamide, are examples of compounds of high interest whose levels are measured in the EU. Given their relevance, the European Commission develops dedicated CRMs to provide quality control tools to laboratories that facilitate the task of implementing accurate methods and contribute to the harmonisation of data results.

Purpose: The role of CRMs in Food Safety and the proper use of CRMs will be discussed using some examples of reference materials for contaminants in food recently developed at the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM).

Methods: Simple statistical tests will be applied to a number of CRMs to assess the statistical significance of the method bias taking into account the relevant uncertainty contributions.

Results: The outcome of the bias test will be discussed and interpreted according to different possible scenarios

Significance: Accurate analytical results are key during decision making processes on compliance with legal limits set for contaminants in food. CRMs can be used to demonstrate the accuracy of analytical methods, hence ensuring the quality of analytical data, and consequently contributing to Food Safety by proper establishment of compliance, or not, with the legal limits.