Measurement uncertainty – a reliable concept in food analysis and for the use of recovery data?

 Steps which are taken to implement the concept of measurement uncertainty in analytical chemical laboratories should take full account of existing internationally agreed protocols for analytical quality assurance and reflect the needs of particular analytical sectors. For the food sector this may mean that for official purposes the use of the term measurement uncertainty is replaced by the term measurement reliability and that a quantitative estimation of this is made based on existing collaborative trial data. In many analytical sectors, the differing strategies currently followed for the determination and use of recovery information are an important cause of the non-comparability of analytical results. Guidelines which are being prepared for the estimation and use of recovery information in analytical measurement may provide a more unified approach which includes measurement uncertainty as a key concept in the use of recovery data. Received: 4 November 1997 · Accepted: 3 February 1998