Collaborative study for the comparison of two methods for the determination of total cholesterol in multicomponent foods.

The gas chromatographic method for determining total cholesterol in multicomponent foods, collaboratively studied by the AOAC in 1974 (Method 1), has been evaluated by 9 collaborating laboratories and compared with the Interim Methodology Instructions No. 2 modified method (Method 2). The 5 samples selected for collaboration were deviled ham sandwich spread, vegetable beef stew, frozen chicken pot pie, frozen fish sticks, and mayonnaise. The recovery data were obtained from a sample of wheat germ oil spiked with 0.297% cholesterol as cholesteryl palmitate. Collaborators performed 2 replicate analyses on all samples by both methods. The statistical evaluation of the results showed that Method 1 is superior to Method 2. Average recoveries from the spiked wheat germ oil samples were 91.4% (9 laboratories) and 85.8% (7 laboratories) with coefficients of variation of 12.5 and 14.4%, respectively. Based on the collaborative results and statistical evaluation, Method 1 has been adopted as official first action.