Analytical methods for foods in the next decade

With each passing decade new problems arise for the regulatory analytical chemist. The push for low detection limits from percent to parts per million to parts per billion brought the need for new and improved analytical instrumentation followed by questions of reliability at such low values. Each question has been met by new instruments or techniques and critical studies. The question for the 1980s is not how to achieve low detection limits but how to reliably and rapidly perform analyses at low values. During the 1960s the emphasis was on the single component/element techniques. We seem now to be entering the computer-controlled era. In each analytical specialty, computer-controlled instruments are offered which greatly aid the analyst in producing an accurate, reliable analysis in a shorter time. The advantage of larger numbers of analyses per unit of time with, in some cases, reduced personnel are not to be overlooked in this age of economy. To the AOAC collaborative study this means a reduction in the number of laboratories who can participate. It also means greater standardization of methodology, and the chemist's laboratory ability becomes less of a factor in producing reliable analyses. Specific analytical examples are discussed to illustrate the trend for the 1980s.