A new ISO 21422 IDF 242 publication titled Milk, milk products, infant formula and adult nutritionals – Determination of chloride – Potentiometric titration method has been published.
The publication was jointly developed by the IDF, ISO technical subcommittee ISO/TC 34/SC 5 Milk and milk product (ISO) and is published separately by the independent standards developing organisation, AOAC INTERNATIONAL. The aim of the collaboration is to develop a series of standards to verify the product safety and accuracy in the labelling of ingredients.
Infant formula is one of the most highly regulated foodstuffs in the world and the production of infant formula must adhere to tough regulations before it can arrive on supermarket shelves. Nutritional labelling is heavily regulated, often requiring compliance with the international reference known as Codex Alimentarius or the Food Code.
Codex Alimentarius is the Joint Food Standards Programme established by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It develops harmonised international food standards to protect consumer health and promote fair practices in the food trade.
IDF, in cooperation with a number of other international standardisation organisations, is developing a series of international standards with validated methods of analysis for infant formula designed to offer a means to verify these components and to demonstrate compliance with codex standards.
Most of these standards have recently been adopted by Codex Alimentarius as reference and for dispute resolution methods.
One recent publication is the ISO 24122 IDF 242, jointly published by the ISO and the IDF as a result of close collaboration between ISO, IDF and AOAC INTERNATIONAL.
The experts involved included those from industry, regulatory bodies, commercial laboratories and academia, demonstrating that a truly harmonised standard can be used to meet labelling regulations around the world.
Other standards in the series currently in development include:
- ISO 21424 IDF 243 Milk, milk products, infant formula and adult nutritionals – Determination of minerals and trace elements – Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) method;
- ISO 15151 IDF 229 Milk, milk products, infant formula and adult nutritionals – Determination of minerals and trace elements – Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES method)
These standards are part of a wide range of other international standards for verifying the contents of infant formula, including that for fatty acid composition (ISO 16958 IDF 231); total iodine (ISO 20647 IDF 234); vitamin A and E (ISO 20633); vitamin B12 (ISO 20634); vitamin C (ISO 20635); vitamin D (ISO 20636); inositol (ISO 20637); nucleotides (ISO 20638); and pantothenic acid (ISO 20639).
