Development of a certified reference material for lead in noodles powder

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has set maximum permissible level of lead in noodle at 2.5 mg/kg. The standardized lead measurement is of high priority in food matrix to obtain closer comparability of results obtained using routine measurement procedures. For this purpose, certified reference material (CRM) for lead in noodle matrix is required to assess analytical methods performance with respect to their validation, calibration and of comparability of measurements between laboratories. Considering the unavailability of matrix-matched reference materials, National Centre for Compositional Characterization of Materials (BARC-NCCCM) has initiated a program for the production of a noodle CRM for the certification of lead mass fraction. Various parameters for homogeneous spiking were optimized for the production of 2.35 kg of homogeneous noodle matrix. Parameters for sample digestion and minimum sample intake for analytical homogeneity (HE) were established before carrying out the homogeneity test between and within bottles. Homogeneity assessment and stability tests were carried out according to the ISO Guide 34 and 35. The certified value was assigned after inter-laboratory comparison exercise where eight national laboratories of repute from both government and private sector participated.