The European Union Reference Laboratory for Food Contact Materials (EURL-FCM) organised a proficiency testing round (FCM-23/01) for the determination of the mass fraction of melamine and formaldehyde in food simulant B solutions, in support to Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/1245. This proficiency testing exercise was open to EU National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) and Official Control Laboratories (OCLs). The EURL dispatched two well-characterised test items for analysis, namely (i) a food simulant solution B spiked with the specified substances, and (ii) four bamboo/melamine mugs for the migration tests. Twenty-five NRLs from 24 countries, and 18 OCLs (from Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain) reported results. Analysing the spiked solution proved relatively straightforward, with over 95 % of the participants reporting satisfactory results. However, the compliance assessment of the mugs was more challenging; only 6 laboratories assessed correctly the compliance of test item 2 for both melamine and formaldehyde in line with the observations of the EURL, while several others presented compliance statements in line with the EURL but inconsistent with their own experimental results. This report provides a detailed discussion about the outcomes of this proficiency testing exercise.
Authors
Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Bratinova, Stefanka, Robouch, Piotr, Beldi, Giorgia, Senaldi, Chiara, Hoekstra, Eddo
- Catalogue number
- KJ-NA-31-926-EN-N
- Citation
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Bratinova, S., Robouch, P., Beldi, G. et al., Determination of melamine and formaldehyde (FA) in food contact material migration solutions – FCM-23/01 proficiency test report , Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/42351
- DOI
- https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/42351
- ISBN
- 978-92-68-15427-4
- ISSN
- 1831-9424
- Pages
- 59
- Published in
- Belgium
- Themes
- Food technology and food safety
Table of Contents
- Abstract 5
- Acknowledgements 6
- Authors 6
- Executive summary 7
- 1 Introduction 8
- 2 Scope 8
- 3 Set up of the exercise 8
- 3.1 Quality assurance 8
- 3.2 Confidentiality 8
- 3.3 Time frame 9
- 3.4 Distribution 9
- 3.5 Instructions to participants 9
- 4 Test items 10
- 4.1 Preparation 10
- 4.2 Homogeneity and stability 10
- 5 Assigned values and corresponding uncertainties 11
- 5.1 Assigned values 11
- 5.2 Associated uncertainties 11
- 5.3 Metrological traceability of the assigned value 11
- 5.4 Standard deviation for proficiency assessment, σpt 11
- 5.5 Compliance statement for test item 2 12
- 6 Evaluation of results 12
- 6.1 Scores and evaluation criteria 12
- 6.2 General observations 14
- 6.3 Laboratory results and scorings 14
- 6.3.1. Performances 14
- 6.3.2. Truncated values 15
- 6.3.3. Measurement uncertainties 15
- 6.3.4. Test item 2 compliance statement evaluation 15
- 6.3.5. Observations on the compliance assessment of test item 2 21
- 6.3.6. Additional information extracted from the questionnaire 22
- 7 Conclusion 23
- References 25
- List of abbreviations and symbols 26
- List of figures 27
- List of tables 27
- Annex 1: A. Announcement of the PT round “FCM-23/01” 28
- Annex 1: B. Invitation letter 29
- Annex 2: Instructions for participants 30
- Annex 3: Questionnaire 33
- Annex 4: Homogeneity and stability results 36
- A. Homogeneity study for test item 1, all values in mg kg-1 36
- B. Homogeneity study for test item 2, all values in mg kg-1 36
- C. Stability study at 40oC, 20oC and 4oC (RT) for one and/or 13 weeks all values in mg kg-1 (REF, reference) 37
- Annex 5: Results for melamine in FS.B (test item 1) 38
- Annex 6: Results for formaldehyde in FS.B (test item 1) 40
- Annex 7: Repeated temperature profiles (3 consecutive migrations between 68 and 72 oC (Profile 1) performed by the EURL on a mug (test item 2) 42
- Annex 8: Three different temperature profiles within the recommended temperature range of 70 ± 2 oC, obtained by the EURL for different mugs (test item 2) 43
- Annex 9: Melamine results obtained by the EURL 44
- Annex 10: Formaldehyde migration results obtained by the EURL 45
- Annex 11: Reported results for three consecutive migrations (m1, m2, m3) of melamine in food simulant B from test item 2 (MUG), expressed in mg kg-1 46
- Annex 12: Reported results for three consecutive migrations (m1, m2, m3) of formaldehyde in food simulant B from test item 2 (MUG), expressed in mg kg-1 47
- Annex 13: Results of the questionnaire 48
