Milk and milk products — Determination of milk fat purity by gas chromatographic analysis of triglycerides

This document specifies a reference method for the determination of milk fat purity using gas chromatographic analysis of triglycerides. The method utilizes the differences in triglyceride fingerprint of milk fat from the individual triglyceride fingerprints of other fats and oils to determine samples which are outside the range normally observed for milk fat. This is achieved by using the defined triglyceride formulae based on the normalized weighted sum of individual triglyceride peaks which are sensitive to the integrity of the milk[6][7]. The integrity of the milk fat can be determined by comparing the result of these formulae with those previously observed for a range of pure milk fat samples[12]. Both vegetable fats and animal fats such as beef tallow and lard can be detected.

The method is applicable to bulk milk, or products made thereof, irrespective of the variation in common feeding practices, breed or lactation conditions. In particular, the method is applicable to fat extracted from milk products purporting to contain pure milk fat with unchanged composition, such as butter, cream, milk and milk powder.

Because a false-positive result can occur, the method does not a