Commission Regulation (EC) No 333/2007Show full title

PART B U.K. SAMPLING METHODS

B.1. GENERAL PROVISIONS U.K.

B.1.1. Personnel U.K.

Sampling shall be performed by an authorised person as designated by the Member State.

B.1.2. Material to be sampled U.K.

Each lot or sublot which is to be examined shall be sampled separately.

B.1.3. Precautions to be taken U.K.

In the course of sampling, precautions shall be taken to avoid any changes which would affect the levels of contaminants, adversely affect the analytical determination or make the aggregate samples unrepresentative.

B.1.4. Incremental samples U.K.

As far as possible, incremental samples shall be taken at various places distributed throughout the lot or sublot. Departure from such procedure shall be recorded in the record provided for under point B.1.8. of this Annex.

B.1.5. Preparation of the aggregate sample U.K.

The aggregate sample shall be made up by combining the incremental samples.

B.1.6. Samples for enforcement, defence and referee purposes U.K.

The samples for enforcement, defence and referee purposes shall be taken from the homogenised aggregate sample unless this conflicts with the rules of the Member States as regards the rights of the food business operator.

B.1.7. Packaging and transmission of samples U.K.

Each sample shall be placed in a clean, inert container offering adequate protection from contamination, from loss of analytes by adsorption to the internal wall of the container and against damage in transit. All necessary precautions shall be taken to avoid any change in composition of the sample which might arise during transportation or storage.

[F1 In case of sampling for PAH analysis plastic containers shall be avoided if possible as they could alter the PAH content of the sample. Inert, PAH-free glass containers, adequately protecting the sample from light, shall be used wherever possible. Where this is practically impossible, at least direct contact of the sample with plastics shall be avoided, e.g. in case of solid samples by wrapping the sample in aluminium foil before placing it in the sampling container.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Commission Regulation (EU) No 836/2011 of 19 August 2011 amending Regulation (EC) No 333/2007 laying down the methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of the levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, inorganic tin, 3-MCPD and benzo(a)pyrene in foodstuffs (Text with EEA relevance).

B.1.8. Sealing and labelling of samples U.K.

Each sample taken for official use shall be sealed at the place of sampling and identified following the rules of the Member States.

A record shall be kept of each sampling, permitting each lot or sublot to be identified unambiguously (reference to the lot number shall be given) and giving the date and place of sampling together with any additional information likely to be of assistance to the analyst.

[F2 B.2. SAMPLING PLANS U.K.

B.2.1. Division of lots into sublots U.K.

Large lots shall be divided into sublots on condition that the sublot may be separated physically. For products traded in bulk consignments (e.g. cereals) Table 1 shall apply. For other products Table 2 shall apply. Taking into account that the weight of the lot is not always an exact multiple of the weight of the sublots, the weight of the sublot may exceed the mentioned weight by a maximum of 20 %.

B.2.2. Number of incremental samples U.K.

The aggregate sample shall be at least 1 kg or 1 litre except where it is not possible, e.g. when the sample consists of 1 package or unit.

The minimum number of incremental samples to be taken from the lot or sublot shall be as given in Table 3.

In the case of bulk liquid products the lot or sublot shall be thoroughly mixed in so far as possible and in so far it does not affect the quality of the product, by either manual or mechanical means immediately prior to sampling. In this case, a homogeneous distribution of contaminants is assumed within a given lot or sublot. It is therefore sufficient to take three incremental samples from a lot or sublot to form the aggregate sample.

The incremental samples shall be of similar weight/volume. The weight/volume of an incremental sample shall be at least 100 grams or 100 millilitres, resulting in an aggregate sample of at least about 1 kg or 1 litre. Departure from this method shall be recorded in the record provided for under point B.1.8 of this Annex.

Table 1

Subdivision of lots into sublots for products traded in bulk consignments

Lot weight (ton)	Weight or number of sublots
≥ 1 500	500 tonnes
> 300 and < 1 500	3 sublots
≥ 100 and ≤ 300	100 tonnes
< 100	—

Table 2

Subdivision of lots into sublots for other products

Lot weight (ton)	Weight or number of sublots
≥ 15	15-30 tonnes
< 15	—

Table 3

Minimum number of incremental samples to be taken from the lot or sublot

Weight or volume of lot/sublot (in kg or litre)	Minimum number of incremental samples to be taken
< 50	3
≥ 50 and ≤ 500	5
> 500	10

If the lot or sublot consists of individual packages or units, then the number of packages or units which shall be taken to form the aggregate sample is given in Table 4.

Table 4

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

Number of packages or units in the lot/sublot	Number of packages or units to be taken
≤ 25	at least 1 package or unit
26-100	about 5 %, at least 2 packages or units
> 100	about 5 %, at maximum 10 packages or units

The maximum levels for inorganic tin apply to the contents of each can, but for practical reasons it is necessary to use an aggregate sampling approach. If the result of the test for an aggregate sample of cans is less than but close to the maximum level of inorganic tin and if it is suspected that individual cans might exceed the maximum level, then it might be necessary to conduct further investigations.

Where it is not possible to carry out the method of sampling set out in this chapter because of the unacceptable commercial consequences (e.g. because of packaging forms, damage to the lot, etc.) or where it is practically impossible to apply the abovementioned method of sampling, an alternative method of sampling may be applied provided that it is sufficiently representative for the sampled lot or sublot and is fully documented.

B.2.3. Specific provisions for the sampling of large fish arriving in large lots U.K.

In case the lot or sublot to be sampled contains large fishes (individual fishes weighing more than about 1 kg) and the lot or sublot weighs more than 500 kg, the incremental sample shall consist of the middle part of the fish. Each incremental sample shall weigh at least 100 g.

Textual Amendments

F2 Substituted by Commission Regulation (EU) No 836/2011 of 19 August 2011 amending Regulation (EC) No 333/2007 laying down the methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of the levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, inorganic tin, 3-MCPD and benzo(a)pyrene in foodstuffs (Text with EEA relevance).

B.3. SAMPLING AT RETAIL STAGE U.K.

Sampling of foodstuffs at retail stage shall be done where possible in accordance with the sampling provisions set out in point B.2.2 of this Annex.

Where it is not possible to carry out the method of sampling set out in point B.2.2 because of the unacceptable commercial consequences (e.g. because of packaging forms, damage to the lot, etc.) or where it is practically impossible to apply the abovementioned method of sampling, an alternative method of sampling may be applied provided that it is sufficiently representative for the sampled lot or sublot and is fully documented.]