Commission Regulation (EC) No 1882/2006Show full title

B. METHOD OF SAMPLING U.K.

As far as possible, incremental samples shall be taken at various places throughout the lot or sublot.

B.1 Sampling in the field U.K.

In case the competent authority considers it necessary to sample the lettuce or spinach in the field, the sampling has to be performed as follows:

Incremental samples shall not be collected from areas that appear to be unrepresentative of the field or area under cover. Areas with different soil types, which have been subjected to different cultivation practices or contain different lettuce or spinach varieties, or to be harvested at a different time, shall be treated as separate lots or fields. If the field is larger than 3 hectares, the field shall be divided into sublots of 2 hectares and each sublot shall be sampled separately.

Incremental samples shall be collected by walking a ‘W’ or ‘X’ shaped pattern across the field. Crops harvested from narrow beds or area under cover shall be harvested in a ‘W’ or ‘X’ shaped pattern from several beds and pooled to form the aggregate sample.

Plants must be cut at ground level.

The sample must contain at least 10 plants, and the aggregate sample of 10 plants must weigh at least 1 kg. Only units of a marketable size shall be sampled(1). Soil, outer non-edible and damaged leaves shall be removed from each unit.

B.2 Sampling of lots of spinach, lettuce, baby foods and processed cereal based food for infants and young children on the market U.K.

The sampling method is applicable to lots smaller than or equal to 25 tonnes.

In the case of large lots (lots > 30 tonnes), the lot shall be subdivided into sublots of in principle 25 tonnes on condition that the sublot may be separated physically. Taking into account that the weight of the lot is not always an exact multiple of 25 tonnes, the weight of the sublot may exceed the mentioned weight by a maximum of 20 %. This means that the sublot may have weight ranging from 15 to 30 tonnes. In case the lot is not or cannot be physically separated into sublots, the sample is taken from the lot.

The aggregate sample shall be at least 1 kg, except where it is not possible e.g. when sampling a single head or package.

The minimum number of incremental samples to be taken from the lot shall be as given in Table 1.

Table 1

Minimum number of incremental samples to be taken from the lot

Weight of lot (in kg)	Minimum number of incremental samples to be taken	Aggregate sample minimum weight (kg)
< 50	3	1
50 to 500	5	1
> 500	10	1

If the lot consists of individual packages, then the number of packages, which shall be taken to form the aggregate sample, is given in Table 2.

Table 2

Number of packages (incremental samples) which shall be taken to form the aggregate sample if the lot consists of individual packages

Number of packages or units in the lot	Number of packages or units to be taken	Aggregate sample minimum weight (kg)
1 to 25	1 package or unit	1
26 to 100	about 5 %, at least 2 packages or units	1
> 100	about 5 %, at maximum 10 packages or units	1

Each lot or sublot to be checked for compliance, must be sampled separately. However, in cases where such method of sampling would lead to unacceptable commercial consequences resulting from damage to the lot (because of packaging formats, means of transport, etc.) then an alternative method of sampling may be applied, provided that it ensures that the aggregate sample is sufficiently representative of the sampled lot and is fully described and documented. The position from which a sample is taken in the lot shall preferably be chosen randomly but, where this is physically impractical, it shall be from a random position in the accessible parts of the lot.

B.3 Sampling at retail stage U.K.

Sampling of foodstuffs at the retail stage shall be done where possible in accordance with the sampling provisions set out in B.2.

Where that is not possible, an alternative method of sampling at retail stage may be used provided that it ensures that the aggregate sample is sufficiently representative of the sampled lot and is fully described and documented(2).

B.4 Assessment of compliance of a lot or sublot U.K.

• acceptance if the laboratory sample conforms to the maximum limit, taking into account the measurement uncertainty and correction for recovery,

• rejection if the laboratory sample exceeds the maximum limit beyond reasonable doubt taking into account the measurement uncertainty and correction for recovery (i.e. the analytical result corrected for recovery and minus the expanded measurement uncertainty is used to assess compliance).

(1)

The marketable size for lettuces, curled leaved and broad leaved endives is provided for in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1543/2001 of 27 July 2001 laying down the marketing standard for lettuces and curled leaved and broad-leaved endives (OJ L 203, 28.7.2001, p. 9), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 6/2005 of 4 January 2005 (OJ L 2, 5.1.2005, p. 3).

(2)

In case the portion to be sampled is so small that it is impossible to obtain an aggregate sample of 1 kg, the aggregate sample weight might be less than 1 kg. Also in case of sampling of processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children, the aggregate sample weight might be 0,5 kg.