Detection of Acid Neutralizers in Fraudulent Milk: Full Validation of a Classical Qualitative Method

Abstract

Neutralization with alkaline compounds is one of the most common adulterations in milk. The rosolic acid method is a classical test widely used in different countries for detection of neutralizers in milk. The official and a modified version were validated in a single laboratory validation process considering four adulterants: sodium bicarbonate(BI), sodium carbonate(CA), sodium hydroxide(HY) and sodium citrate(CI). The modified version, which presented better performance was selected for interlaboratory validation. In this process, samples of raw milk with acidities of 0.19% were neutralized with different concentrations of BI, CA, HY and C and tested for homogeneity and stability. Eight laboratories, which represented different sectors of the milk production chain, received and analysed these samples. The collaborative trial results confirmed the method performance, although sensitivity and precision were inferior to those obtained in the intralaboratory process, demonstrating its applications and limitations