Food Sampling

Food Sampling
Most of foods are relatively heterogeneous in
their nature
Sample taken for analysis are truly
representative of the product to be analyzed
 
Analysis of any food material depends on:
•Sample selection
• Sample plan
•Performance of analytical procedure
•Statistical analysis
•Data reporting
Sample Selection
Main objective
 To ensure that the properties of the sample are
representative of the properties of the population
 
 Ideally, analyze every part of the material to
obtain an accurate measure of the property of
interest. Practically, this is impossible!!
 Analytical techniques destroy the food
 Time consuming
 Expensive
 Labor intensive 
 Sample: A fraction of the population is usually
selected for analysis

 Laboratory Sample: The actual sample used in

the final laboratory analysis

 Population: The whole of the food material

whose properties we are trying to obtain an
estimate
Sampling Plan
Objective
 To ensure that the estimated value
obtained from the laboratory sample is
good representations of the true value of
the population
 FOOD SAMPLING

POPULATION LAB ANALYSIS

S
S
TRANSPORT
SAMPLE SAMPLE S
S
S
S
RECEIVING
STORING

SAMPLE
PREPARATION
6
Sampling Plan
 A sampling plan should be a clearly
written document that contains:
 Exact details about the sample size and
the locations from which the sample
should be selected
 The method used to collect the sample
 The method used to preserve them prior
to analysis
 The procedures carried out during the
sampling process
Sampling Plan
 The choice of sampling plan depends on:
 The purpose of the analysis
 The property to be measured
 Nature of Population

Note:
 Sampling plans of certain foods have been
documented by various organizations like the
Association of Official Analytical Chemists
(AOAC)
The purpose of the analysis
 Official samples
 Raw materials
 Process control samples
 Finished product
 Research and development

The property to be measured

Color, weight, or presence of foreign matter
Moisture, fat content, or food additives
Microbial count, pathogens
The property to be measured
 Color, weight, or presence of foreign matter
 Moisture, fat content, or food additives
 Microbial count, pathogens

The properties of foods can usually be classified as:

 Attribute is something that a product either does or does

not have e.g. piece of glass,
 
 Variable is property that can be measured such as the
weight, fat content or moisture content of a material
Variable sampling usually requires less samples than
attribute sampling  
The property to be measured
 Sample size: The size of the sample depends on
the expected variations in properties within a
population

 Statistical analysis may be used to specify the

minimum number of sub-samples be analyzed

 Sub-samples are analyzed until the ratio of good

ones to bad ones falls within some statistically
predefined value to reject or accept the
population 
The property to be measured
In homogeneous food material, all the
sub-samples have the same properties

In heterogeneous food material, sub-

samples are selected as:

 Random sampling: sub-samples are

chosen randomly from any location. It
avoids human bias and use statistics
The property to be measured
 Systematic sampling: samples are drawn
systematically with location or time (every 10th
box in a truck may be analyzed, or from a
conveyor belt every 1 minute)

 Judgment sampling: sub-samples are drawn

from the whole population using the judgment
and experience of the analyst
Statistical analysis can not apply to this type of
sampling
Nature of Population
The population may be:
 Finite: It is one that has a definite size, e.g., a
truckload of apples, a tanker full of milk, or a vat
full of oil
It provides information about the properties of the
population

 Infinite: It is one that has no definite size, e.g.,

Food in a conveyor belt that operates
continuously
It provides information about the properties of the
process
Nature of Population
 Continuous: It is one in which there is no
physical separation between the different parts of
the sample, e.g., liquid milk or oil
 Compartmentalized: It is one that is split into a
number of separate sub-units, e.g., boxes of
potato chips in a truck, or bottles of tomato
ketchup
 Homogeneous: It is one in which the properties
of the individual samples are the same at every
location within the material
Sample would be representative of the whole
population
Nature of Population
 Heterogeneous: It is one in which the
properties of the individual samples vary
with location (a truck full of potatoes,
some of which are bad)

 Samples are withdrawn from different

locations within the population
Sample collection

 It can be carried out manually by a human

being or by sampling devices
 
 Manual sampling may involve simply
picking a sample from a conveyor belt or
a truck, or using special cups, containers
or sampler
Preparation of Laboratory Samples
  Preparation of samples must be done in order
to make accurate and precise measurements

 Making Samples Homogeneous

It is necessary to make samples homogeneous
before they are analyzed
Mechanical devices can be used for
homogenizing foods (grinders, mixers, slicers,
and blenders)
Preparation of Laboratory Samples
 Reducing Sample Size
A small portion of homogenous food is selected
for analysis

 Preventing Changes in Sample

Changes: Enzymatic activities, Lipid oxidation,
Microbial Growth and Physical Changes

Methods: Freezing, drying, heat treatment

chemical preservatives, antioxidants and
control the temperature of the samples
Preparation of Laboratory Samples
 Sample Identification
Laboratory samples should be labeled so can easily be
identified

 The information includes:

 Sample description
 Time sample was taken
 Location sample was taken from
 Person who took the sample
 Method used to select the sample
• Each sample should be marked with a code on its label
that can be correlated to the notebook
Type of analytical technique used

 It is capable of rapid, low cost, nondestructive & accurate

measurements
Sources of Error
There are three common sources of error in any analytical
technique:
Personal Errors
 The wrong chemical reagent or equipment might have been
used;
 Some of the sample may have been spilt;
 A volume or mass may have been recorded incorrectly;
Random Errors
 These produce data that vary in a non-reproducible fashion
from one measurement to the next
Systematic Errors
 A systematic error produces results that consistently deviate
from the true answer in some systematic way, e.g.,
measurements may always be 10% too high
Sources of Error
To reduce the errors
Purchase or prepare standards that have known
properties
Analyze these standards using the same
analytical technique as used for the unknown
food samples
Analytical instruments should be carefully
maintained and frequently calibrated to ensure
that they are operating correctly
Data Analysis and Reporting
Food analysis is aimed to obtain a
best estimate of the value being
measured

Statistical techniques are used to

present the data of repeated
measurements of the same sample
Data Analysis and Reporting
1. Measure of Central Tendency of Data
The mean is representing the overall properties of a number of
measurements

 n The total number of measurements,

 xi The individually measured values
 The mean value
 The mean is the best experimental estimate of the value that
can be obtained from the measurements
Data Analysis and Reporting
2. Measure of Spread of Data
 The spread of the data is a measurement of how
closely together repeated measurements are to each
other
 The standard deviation is the most commonly used
measure of the spread of experimental measurements
 The standard deviation SD of a set of experimental
measurements is given by the following equation: