Determination of Mono- and Disaccharides in Foods by Interlaboratory Study: Quantitation of Bias Components for Liquid Chromatography

In 1988, a group of French food manufacturers decided to validate the methods used to determine mono- and disaccharides in foods (fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, and lactose) based on liquid chromatography with refractive Index detection. Twenty laboratories analyzed 12 products. The reproducibilities obtained exceeded Horwltz's criteria but were still acceptable because laboratories used different equipment and the sample matrixes were complex. Six different sources of variation were characterized because of a more complex experimental design. The method for calculating concentration, In particular, had considerable impact on the final precision; the choice between peak area and peak height must be strictly considered.