ALBERT

Description:    Mycotoxins are important non-anthropogenic food and feed contaminants, which can be present on almost every agricultural commodity. Effective consumer protection therefore essentially depends on food surveillance by reliable quantitative analysis enabled by appropriate quality control. Certified (matrix) reference materials (CRMs) are versatile tools to support quality assurance. However, in the case of ochratoxin A (OTA), a hepato- and nephrotoxic mycotoxin, which is regulated in various foods, there is a lack of suitable CRMs. This lack has now been overcome by the development of two European Reference Materials (ERM ® ) for the determination of OTA in roasted coffee (ERM ® -BD475) and red wine (ERM ® -BD476). This article discusses the material preparation process as well as the results of homogeneity and stability testing. Furthermore, the results of the in-house certification studies carried out at BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing are presented and discussed. Interlaboratory comparison studies involving selected expert laboratories with documented expertise in the field of mycotoxin analysis were conducted to confirm the certified values determined by BAM. The certified ochratoxin A values and their corresponding expanded uncertainties ( k  = 2) were assigned in full compliance with the requirements of ISO Guide 35 and are as follows: (6.0 ± 0.6) μg kg −1 for roasted coffee, ERM ® -BD475, and (0.52 ± 0.11) μg L −1 for red wine, ERM ® -BD476. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-9 DOI 10.1007/s00769-011-0783-0 Authors Matthias Koch, Division 1.2 “Organic Chemical Analysis; Reference Materials”, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany Wolfram Bremser, Division 1.2 “Organic Chemical Analysis; Reference Materials”, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany Robert Köppen, Division 1.2 “Organic Chemical Analysis; Reference Materials”, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany Rita Krüger, Division 1.2 “Organic Chemical Analysis; Reference Materials”, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany Tatjana Rasenko, Division 1.2 “Organic Chemical Analysis; Reference Materials”, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany David Siegel, Division 1.2 “Organic Chemical Analysis; Reference Materials”, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany Irene Nehls, Division 1.2 “Organic Chemical Analysis; Reference Materials”, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany Journal Accreditation and Quality Assurance: Journal for Quality, Comparability and Reliability in Chemical Measurement Online ISSN 1432-0517 Print ISSN 0949-1775