[Automatic measurement of specific gravity of nutritional beverages]

Using an electronic densimeter introduced a few years ago, a completely automatic system has been developed, allowing more than 400 measurements to be performed daily, with very little human intervention. The repeatability shows a standard deviation of 0.5 10(-5) to 1.6 10(-5), according to the type of sample analyzed. The correlation between measurements performed with this device and those performed with pycnometers is excellent. Another important advantage is that laboratory assistants need no special training before obtaining very sound results.