Certified reference materials of agricultural products and foods bearing radioactivity from the Fukushima nuclear accident

Certified reference materials (CRMs) for food analysis were developed in an inter-laboratory experiment for validation of measurement of radiocesium in foodstuffs. Since 2012, five series of CRMs were developed, including for brown rice grain, soybean powder, beef flake, shiitake mushroom powder and marine fish (meat and bone parts). This paper discusses the strategy of development, including choice of CRMs developed and the preparation and certification procedures applied for CRM development. In particular, some detailed data are presented for the most popular CRMs developed: brown rice grain, soybean powder and beef flake.