SmartSPE-C is the first product certified under AOAC’s consumables programme, with approval covering the clean-up of specified food extracts before pesticide analysis.
USA – AOAC’s Research Institute has awarded its first Performance Tested Consumables certification to SmartSPE-C, a cartridge used to prepare food extracts for pesticide and environmental-contaminant analysis.
The product, made by US-based ITSP Solutions, received certificate C082601 under AOAC’s programme for evaluating laboratory consumables.
The certified claim covers cleanup of extracts produced using the QECh*All preparation method before gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, or GC-MS, analysis.
Sample preparation matters because food components can interfere with the chemicals a laboratory wants to measure. SmartSPE-C uses a small solid-phase extraction cartridge in a centrifuge assembly to remove water and interfering material before instrumental analysis.
Five food types are covered: infant formula without probiotics, whole navel oranges, mixed oat, wheat and barley grains, catfish fillets with skin, and kale.
Performance varied by food and substance. In kale, the polar-analyte group returned recoveries of 72–87%, with relatively high variability. The certificate also notes that acephate and omethoate may be better analysed by LC-MS/MS and records photodegradation of tralkoxydim.
AOAC says its consumables programme includes manufacturer studies, independent laboratory evaluation and expert review. It is intended to give laboratories evidence for assessing supplies that can affect their results, including purchases covered by ISO/IEC 17025 requirements.
A report summary hosted by ITSP identifies USDA Agricultural Research Service and Eurofins in Madison, Wisconsin, as participating laboratories, and describes evaluation across three product lots. That summary is manufacturer-hosted; the AOAC certificate provides the published boundaries of the certified claim.