This document specifies a reference method for the determination of milk fat purity using gas chromatographic analysis of triglycerides. The method utilizes the differences in triglyceride fingerprint of milk fat from the individual triglyceride fingerprints of other fats and oils to determine samples which are outside the range normally observed for milk fat. This is achieved by using the defined triglyceride formulae based on the normalized weighted sum of individual triglyceride peaks which are sensitive to the integrity of the milk[6][7]. The integrity of the milk fat can be determined by comparing the result of these formulae with those previously observed for a range of pure milk fat samples[12]. Both vegetable fats and animal fats such as beef tallow and lard can be detected.
The method is applicable to bulk milk, or products made thereof, irrespective of the variation in common feeding practices, breed or lactation conditions. In particular, the method is applicable to fat extracted from milk products purporting to contain pure milk fat with unchanged composition, such as butter, cream, milk and milk powder.
Because a false-positive result can occur, the method does not apply to milk fat related to these circumstances:
a) obtained from bovine milk other than cow's milk;
b) obtained from single cows;
c) obtained from cows whose diet contained a particularly high proportion of vegetable oils such as rapeseed, cotton or palm oil, etc.;
d) obtained from cows suffering from serious underfeeding (strong energy deficit);
e) obtained from colostrum;
f) subjected to technological treatment such as removal of cholesterol or fractionation;
g) obtained from skim milk, buttermilk or whey;
h) obtained from cheeses showing increased lipolysis;
i) extracted using the Gerber, Weibull?Berntrop or Schmid?Bondzynski?Ratzlaff methods, or that has been isolated using detergents (e.g. the Bureau of Dairy Industries method).
With the extraction methods specified in i), su ...