Determination of melamine and formaldehyde (FA) in food contact material migration solutions : FCM-23/01 proficiency test report

The European Union Reference Laboratory for Food Contact Materials (EURL-FCM) organised a proficiency testing round (FCM-23/01) for the determination of the mass fraction of melamine and formaldehyde in food simulant B solutions, in support to Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/1245. This proficiency testing exercise was open to EU National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) and Official Control Laboratories (OCLs). The EURL dispatched two well-characterised test items for analysis, namely (i) a food simulant solution B spiked with the specified substances, and (ii) four bamboo/melamine mugs for the migration tests. Twenty-five NRLs from 24 countries, and 18 OCLs (from Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain) reported results. Analysing the spiked solution proved relatively straightforward, with over 95 % of the participants reporting satisfactory results. However, the compliance assessment of the mugs was more challenging; only 6 laboratories assessed correctly the compliance of test item 2 for both melamine and formaldehyde in line with the observations of the EURL, while several others presented compliance statements in line with the EURL but inconsistent with their own experimental results. This report provides a detailed discussion about the outcomes of this proficiency testing exercise.