Collaborative Study of Rapid Fat Determination in Meat and Meat Products by Modification of the AOAC Method

Abstract

Abstract The rapid method for fat determination reported by this laboratory has been evaluated by 10 collaborating laboratories in a comparison with the AOAC method. The method is similar to the official method except that a 3–4 g sample of meat or meat product is dried in an open extraction thimble for 30 min at 125°C and extracted with ethyl ether for 45 min at maximum reflux, and fat content is determined gravimetrically after complete removal of solvent from the extract. Collaborators performed 6 replicate analyses on samples of ground beef, frankfurters, and fresh pork sausage by both methods. A statistical treatment of the results showed that fat contents determined by the modified method agreed with those obtained by the official method. The expected standard deviation, se, averaged for the 3 types of meat product, was ±0.83% fat which is 1.5 times the value obtained by the official method, ±0.56% fat.