Non-use and misinterpretation of CRMs. Can the situation be improved?

A survey of 82 scientific papers on trace elements in foods found the use of Certified Reference Materials to be less than anticipated. Less than 50% of the papers reported use of CRMs. When used, the evaluation is usually very crude and provides the user with very little information about his analytical performance. This is mainly due to lack of information/communication between the producers of CRMs, the users and those writing guidelines for the use of CRMs. Several specific problems are pointed out and remedies to improve the situation are described.