DIN EN 16466-1:2013-03

The European Standards EN 16466-1 to -3 are based on an international collaborative study of three methods of analysis published in Analytica Chimica Acta 649 in 2009, and organised under the auspices of the Permanent International Vinegar Committee (CPIV, Brussels). These methods of analysis have been prepared with the aim to be able to control the authenticity of vinegar. According to EN 13188:2000, vinegar is defined as acedic acid solution resulting from a double fermentation, that is, transformation of sugars to ethanol and transformation of ethanol to acetic acid. Both the ethanol and the acetic acid should be obtained by a biotechnological process. Synthetic acedic acids obtained from either petroleum derivatives or the pyrolysis of wood are suitable as adulteration of high-grade fermentation vinegars, however. The use of less expensive products is not allowed due to economic distortions during marketing and may lead to health risks if hazardous substances are used. The control of the authenticity of vinegar is therefore a major aspect in relation to consumer protection and fair trade. Isotopic methods for detection of the authenticity of vinegar are specified in Part 1 and Part 2. These two methods are applicable to fermentation vinegar (from wine, cider, agricultural alcohol, etcetera) in order to characterize, in combination with both methods, the botanical origin of acetic acid and to detect adulterations of vinegar using synthetic acetic acid. Part 3 specifies another isotopic method for detection of the authenticity of acid. This method is applicable to wine vinegar to characterize the 180/160 ratio of water and it allows the differentiation between wine vinegar and vinegars produced from raisins. The methods have been proposed by the Permanent International Vinegar Committee (CPIV, Brussels) and submitted for vote within the framework of the Primary Questionnaire (PQ Method). The responsible European standardization committee is Technical Committee CEN/TC SS C01 "Food products", the secretariat of which is held by CCMC. The responsible German standardization committee is Working Committee NA 057-05-03 AA "Essig" ("Vinegar") of the Food and Agricultural Products Standards Committee (NAL).