Determination of Labeled Fatty Acids Content in Milk Products, Infant Formula, and Adult/Pediatric Nutritional Formula by Capillary Gas Chromatography: Single-Laboratory Validation, First Action 2012.13.

The method described is intended for the quantification of all fatty acids, including commercially important groups of fatty acids used for labeling reasons [i. e., trans fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9] and/or individual fatty acids (i. e., linoleic acid, α-linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, ecosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid) in milk products, infant formula, and adult/pediatric nutritional formula. These products often contain milk fat and/or vegetable oils and are supplemented or not supplemented with oils rich in long-chain PUFA. The determination is performed by direct transesterification of ready-to-feed (RTF) liquid concentrate or powder products without prior fat extraction. Single-laboratory validation (SLV) data were submitted to the AOAC Expert Review Panel (ERP) on Nutrient Methods for review at the AOAC Annual Meeting held on September 30 to October 3, 2012, in Las Vegas, NV. The ERP determined that the data reviewed met the Standard Method Performance Requirements (SMPR® 2012.011) set by the AOAC Stakeholder Panel on Infant Formula and Adult Nutritionals (SPIFAN) and was approved as an AOAC Official First Action method. The analytical range for SPIFAN samples was between 0.001 and 7.94 g/100 g reconstituted product or RTF liquid. LOQ was estimated as 0.001 g/100 g, while repeatability and intermediate precision were both less than 1.8% RSD above 0.05 g/100 g and <3.5% RSD at 0.005 g/100 g. Recovery values based on spiking experiments at two different levels of linoleic and linolenic acids ranged from 100.0 to 102.9% for three different SPIFAN products. All the parameters evaluated during the SLV were well within the values defined in SMPR 2012.011.