F01003: The determination of vitamin D3 in feeds and pet foods
Friday 8 October 2004
This research project aims to determine an official control method for vitamin D3 in animal feedingstuffs.
Background
Vitamin D3 is a permitted additive in pet food and animal feed and its use in feed is controlled by the Feeding Stuffs Regulations (2000) and its amendments.
The Feeding Stuffs (Sampling and Analysis) Regulations 1999 specify analytical methods to be used for the determination of additives in animal feeding stuffs. However, there is no official method for the determination of vitamin D3. The use of different methods can give rise to differences in results between laboratories, potentially causing disputes and requiring the prescription of wide analytical tolerances in the legislation.
Research Approach
The aim of this work is to develop an optimised high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) procedure for the determination of vitamin D3 in animal feeds and pet food and to validate this procedure by collaborative trial.
A consortium of four laboratories was set up to evaluate and optimise an HPLC procedure following on from work carried out under the auspices of the Royal Society of Chemistry Analytical Methods Committee (Feeding Stuffs sub-committee). Potentially useful methods were evaluated and an optimised procedure was developed. Following a successful pilot trial, the method was validated by collaborative trial.
Representative pet food and animal feed materials were chosen by the consortium to represent a range of feed /pet food matrices and a range of vitamin D3 concentrations. These were then prepared and tested for homogeneity and stability.
Results and findings
Results from the collaborative analytical trials were subjected to statistical evaluation using robust statistical techniques. Horrat values were calculated for each material and ranged between 0.70 and 2.3, and the performance of the method was acceptable in all materials.
Dissemination information
Final report is available from the Agency's Information centre.
To obtain a copy, please contact the Enquiry Desk, Information Services, Food Standards Agency (tel: 020 7276 8181/8182 or email: infocentre@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk).
Contact: For any enquiries concerning this research project, please contact the relevant programme contact or email: science@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk