DIN EN 13804:2013-06

This document (FprEN 13804:2012) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 275 "Food analysis - Horizontal methods", the secretariat of which is held by DIN (Germany). The responsible German committee is Working Committee NA 057-01-09 "Elemente und ihre Verbindungen" ("Elements and their chemical species") at the Food and Agricultural Products Standards Committee (NAL). This European Standard specifies performance criteria for the selection of methods of analysis of elements and their chemical species in foodstuffs and contains performance requirements and characteristics, guidelines for laboratory set-up, sample preparation and test reports. The Working Group, CEN/TC 275/WG 10 "Elements and their chemical species", selects and elaborates methods of analysis of elements and their chemical species in foodstuffs. There are many methods of analysis for the determination of elements in foodstuffs which have been validated and published; the analyst is often required to make a choice between several established methods all of which purport to be applicable to the same analyte/matrix combination. The Working Group therefore decided to establish specific criteria to guide the analyst in the selection between several methods of analysis. As a general rule, analysts should give preference to methods of analysis which comply with the provisions given in clauses 1 and 2 of EC Regulation No 882/2004 as well as the decision in Council Directive 96/23/EC and the General Principles for Methods of Analysis of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC); they are defined in the CAC Procedural Manual and further developed in the "criteria approach" to methods of analysis developed by the Codex Committee of Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS). The performance criteria laid down in this European Standard are based on published data or collected from official reports on European interlaboratory studies. When such performance characteristics are not available, the criteria were established based on the experience and opinions of the experts of CEN/TC 275/WG 10. The criteria included in this European Standard have also been used as guidance in the Working Group 10 for the selection of specific methods of analysis of trace elements to be standardised. In addition, the Working Group 10 also decided to provide some general information on sample handling and sample preparation, laboratory organisation and equipment. This document does not deal with sampling issues. This document provides an overview of the processes involved from receipt of the laboratory sample to the end result. General sample preparation procedures are specified, as well as examples for some foodstuffs.