Analysis of foods for iodine: interlaboratory study.

An accurate, reproducible method for less than or equal to 1 ppm iodine in foods is required for nutritional labeling. In order to ascertain the current status of iodine analysis in foods, 7 samples, representing different food classes, were analyzed by 8 laboratories. Six laboratories used their modifications of the Ce-As-I catalytic method preceded by alkaline dry ashing. Two laboratories used neutron activation analysis (NAA), with differing radiochemical separations. The study showed wide discrepancy in analytical results. Mean relative standard deviation for all laboratories was 77.9% between laboratories; 19.1% within-laboratories. Laboratories using NAA had only slightly better precision than did laboratories using the chemical method. The lowest level reported on the entire group of samples ranged among laboratories from 0.0089 to 0.65 ppm. Figures reported by a laboratory are, in general, consistently high or consistently low. The only differences in methodology which may possibly correlate with level of iodine obtained are the use of NAA technique and use of manual, rather than automated, colorimetry.