Experience with wheat flour reference material

The Chemical Section of the National Office of Measures, Hungary (OMH) [1] embarked on the preparation of a wheat sample series as a Certified Reference Material [2] (CRM) in 1992. The practical implementation of the wheat sample series has shown that testing laboratories are in great need of easy-to-use flour reference samples to objectively and independently qualify wheat. To fill this need, we have developed a three-term flour reference sample series. The certification process was carried out according to ISO recommendations. Investigations of the long-term stability [3] and the application of wheat and flour CRMs are continuing. Wheat is one of the most widely grown crops in Hungary and it is one of the major determinative factors in the economy. Its uniform and objective qualification is of outstanding importance. There are well-equipped laboratories with sufficient experience to assess wheat flour quality, however, proficiency testing has shown that certified samples need to be used to achieve exact and uniform measuring results.