Collaborative Trial of a Method for the Determination of Sucralose in Foods

The collaborative trial of a liquid chromatography with refractive index detection method for the determination of sucralose in yoghurt, jam, carbonated beverage, low carbohydrate chocolate confectionery and still beverages has successfully been undertaken. Statistical evaluation of the results from the collaborative trial indicated that the method generally gave acceptable HorRat values (<2.0) for still and carbonated beverages and jam. A poorer level of precision was seen for results from yoghurt (HorRat = 2.2) which may be attributable to greater variability at the low end of the calibration range. This issue has been addressed by amending the method to include the option to either reduce the sample dilution factor or to allow for method calibration at lower concentrations. The most complex matrix, chocolate confectionery, gave the poorest level of precision with a HorRat of 3.2. The trial also established typical performance characteristics for the method. These performance characteristics are a useful quality control guide that can be used when the method is applied to new sample matrices.