Adas UK and NRM Laboratories will conduct the UK’s next nitrate monitoring programme. The two companies were chosen by the Food Standards Agency in compliance with the EU requirement to monitor and report levels of nitrate in lettuce and spinach.

The objectives are to carry out the analysis of 200 samples from UK growers and a further 50 imported samples from wholesalers on an annual basis. Adas will prepare a sampling plan for domestic lettuce and spinach from a suitable cross section of UK growers, extending for up to five years, and will arrange for collection of the samples.

The samples will be dispatched to NRM in Berkshire where analysis for nitrate will be undertaken using a UKAS accredited method that fully meets the requirements of EC Regulation 1882/2006. The method, which is accredited to BS EN ISO 17025: 2005, uses an extraction procedure that has been shown to be reliable and robust and involves freezing in dry ice prior to homogenisation. Detection is based on flow injection colorimetry, a technique currently used by NRM for analysis of all commercial samples of green leafy vegetables for nitrate. This method has been accredited by UKAS for seven years and the FAPAS data produced over this time has been exceptional.

A spokesperson for NRM said the company was pleased to be asked by Adas to work with it and will be starting the project early this year.

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