Liquid chromatographic determination of saccharin in beverages and sweets: NMKL Collaborative Study

A reverse phase liquid chromatographic method for the determination of saccharin in a soft drink and a juice was collaboratively studied in 8 laboratories. Collaborators were supplied with 3 samples of the soft drink and 3 samples of the juice containing sodium saccharin levels of 40-100 mg/L. Average recoveries of sodium saccharin were 95.3% for the soft drink and 98.0% for the juice. The reproducibility coefficients of variation were 16.9% for the soft drink and 10.4% for the juice. In addition, a mini-collaborative study was conducted for the determination of saccharin in 3 samples of sweets produced commercially. Five collaborators analyzed the samples, which contained saccharin at levels of 100-600 mg/kg according to the maker's specifications. Saccharin was extracted with water and ethanol and chromatographed using a modified liquid chromatographic method. The reproducibility coefficient of variation was 12.4% for the sweets.