Food physico-chemistry: 7 new AFNOR standards integrated into our analytical methods
Since 2015, Phytocontrol’s Food Physico-chemistry department has been fully committed to an ambitious project to standardise the analytical methods used for nutritional labelling of food products.
This long-term commitment has now resulted in the publication of 7 AFNOR standards now integrated into our analytical methods.
Standards published for better harmonisation
The standardisation process reached major milestones in 2024 and 2025 with the publication of two sets of fundamental standards:
Batch 1 – Published in May 2024:
- NF V03-032: Food products – Determination of nitrogen content using the Kjeldahl method – Calculation of protein content.
- NF V03-426: Food products – Determination of fat content.
- NF V03-802: Food products – Determination of ash content.
Batch 2 – Published in March 2025:
- NF V03-801: Food products – Determination of mass loss on drying.
- NF V03-033-1: Food products – Determination of sugar content. Part 1: method by (high-pressure) liquid chromatography with refractometric detection.
- NF V03-033-2: Food products – Determination of sugar content. Part 2: method by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography coupled with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD).
- NF V03-034: Food products – Qualitative extraction of fat for the determination of fatty acid composition.
These standards define a common methodological framework enabling better comparability of results, strengthening the reliability of data provided to the food industry and consumers.
Scientific recognition under way
To showcase this collective effort, an international scientific publication is currently being drafted. Entitled: “Nutritional labelling: a collaborative study to develop standardized methods for protein, fat, sugars, mass loss after drying and ashes in food”
This work aims to present the scientific and technical foundations of standardisation: protocols, collaborative trials, statistical processing by BIPEA, and the results obtained. A crucial step in strengthening the credibility and international acceptance of these methods.
Save the date: 12 June – AFNOR webinar
To conclude this standardisation phase, a webinar organised by AFNOR will be held on 12 June 2025, bringing together:
- members of the committee who took part in drafting the standards,
- contributing laboratories,
- representatives of administrations,
- and potentially stakeholders from the food industry.
This webinar will be an opportunity to look back on 10 years of work that have built a reliable, standardised and harmonised analytical foundation.
By getting involved in this process, Phytocontrol confirms its driving role in innovation and analytical excellence in the service of food safety and nutritional transparency.
