Report of an inter-laboratory comparison from the European Reference Laboratory for Food Contact Materials : ILC01-2014 : follow-up ILC01-2013 on proficiency testing on food simulant E containing a cocktail of potential migrant substances

This report shows the results of the Interlaboratory Comparison ILC01-2014, a follow-up of the previous ILC01-2013. It is a Proficiency Testing (PT) on food simulant E spiked with potential migrant substances carried out by the European Union Reference Laboratory (EURL) for Food Contact Materials (FCM). Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 establishes food simulant E for testing migration compliance of plastics in contact with dry foodstuffs. The simulant E (Tenax®) was spiked with 7 substances at given concentrations tailored for this exercise, of which 3 were replaced from the previous year. A list containing 10 substances in which 7 were effectively present in the simulant was distributed to the participants. Homogeneity and stability studies were conducted. The main scope of this ILC01-2014 was to evaluate the improvement on the performance of the National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) for specific analysis of potential migrants in Tenax®. The participants should identify and quantify the substances spiked in the food simulant by using the analytical method of their choice. The z-score values, for each substance/laboratory, were obtained by the assigned value calculated with the results reported by the participants (robust mean). The participation of the laboratories in this follow-up on identification and quantification of the substances in food simulant E was very satisfactory regarding the number of received results as well as the significant improvement in the performance of the NRLs.