🍎 Soft drinks — sampling and tests: sensory, extract, acidity, CO₂, alcohol, bacteria, PN-A-79033

Food Chemistry PN-A-79033

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. The scope from the PKN catalogue card, quoted in full: "The standard gives the procedure for sampling soft drinks, storing them and preparing them for testing. Three kinds of sensory tests, 17 kinds of physicochemical tests (checking tightness, content of carbon dioxide, sodium benzoate, metals) and 5 kinds of microbiological tests (determination of the number of yeasts, bacteria etc.) are described. The descriptions of the test methods contain the principles of the methods, equipment, reagents, description of operations and calculation of results. The standard contains 7 tables, 13 formulas and 2 figures. Rules for assessing lot defectiveness are given." It is one standard for many tests — which is why 16 of the 26 entries in the accreditation scopes indicate the clause the laboratory uses.

STATUS (state of the card on 29 September 2026). The card carries the heading "Withdrawn and superseded by PN-A-04019:1998 - Polish version" and the withdrawal date 27-07-2015; "Supersedes: PN-A-79033:1979". Edition: published 09-03-1985, 16 pages, technical body: RS SRZ (Sector Council of the Food, Agriculture and Forestry Sector), ICS 67.160.20. The indicated successor is NOT a standard on beverages: PN-A-04019:1998 "Food products — Determination of vitamin C content" (card without the heading "Withdrawn", read on 29 September 2026) gives the titrimetric method according to Tillmans for colourless and slightly coloured products and a spectrophotometric method for strongly coloured ones, and lists PN-A-79033:1985 among the four standards it supersedes (together with PN-A-75101-11:1990, PN-A-86030:1978 and PN-R-87020:1992). It was published on 18-02-1998, whereas PN-A-79033 was withdrawn only on 27-07-2015. For the tests that laboratories actually cite — extract, acidity, carbon dioxide, alcohol, sensory assessment and bacterial counts — the card indicates no successor.

WHAT LABORATORIES TAKE FROM IT (copy of the accreditation scope database, data up to 17 September 2026, read on 28 September 2026). All records of number 79033: 26 entries at 14 laboratories, always with the test object "soft drinks". Total extract by the refractometric method — 7 laboratories (clause 3.6.1, at AB 452 clause 3.6): from 0.02 g/100 g in degrees Brix (AB 592) to 95 % (AB 452). Total acidity or acidity expressed as citric acid or as "the acid used" — 6 laboratories (clauses 3.8, 3.8.1 and 3.8.2; AB 1334 by potentiometric titration). Volatile acidity — AB 313 (clause 3.9), AB 381 (clause 3.9, expressed as acetic acid) and AB 1095. Carbon dioxide by the pressure method — AB 285 (0.10–0.90 g/100 ml) and AB 1095 (1.0–8.0 g/l), i.e. similar ranges in different units. Sensory assessment by a simple descriptive test (clarity, colour, odour, taste, at some also CO₂ saturation) — AB 444, AB 518 (clauses 3.4 and 3.5), AB 1334 and AB 1473. Ethyl alcohol — AB 313 (clause 3.14, distillation-oscillation method, 0.05–2.0 %, together with its own procedure). Filling of containers — AB 285 (58–2000 ml). Bacterial counts at 22 °C and at 37 °C by the plate method — AB 313. None of the 14 laboratories cites checking tightness, sodium benzoate, metals or yeasts — tests named on the card.

FORM OF THE DESIGNATION AND THE TAB. Forms: "PN-A-79033:1985" — 8 laboratories (13 entries), "PN-85/A-79033" — 8 laboratories (13 entries); AB 313 and AB 518 use both. The "Laboratories" tab searches for records BEGINNING with "PN-A-79033" and will show 8 laboratories in 13 entries; it will not show the six that write only "PN-85/A-79033" (AB 285, AB 381, AB 444, AB 592, AB 704, AB 705). Current scopes on the PCA website (read on 29 September 2026, issues from 30 October 2025 to 8 July 2026): all 26 entries stand in the valid issues with the same range as in the copy, and none is suspended.

THE LEGAL PROVISION AGAINST WHICH THE ALCOHOL RESULT IS COMPARED. Act of 26 October 1982 on upbringing in sobriety and counteracting alcoholism (consolidated text Journal of Laws 2023, item 2151), Article 46(1): "An alcoholic beverage within the meaning of this Act is a product intended for consumption containing ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin at a concentration exceeding 0.5 % alcohol by volume" (our translation). The 2026 amendment of the Act (Journal of Laws 2026, item 875, from 1 January 2027) only adds a provision in Article 18 and does not touch this definition. The range of AB 313 (0.05–2.0 %) covers the 0.5 % limit; in the scope the unit is "%", without saying whether by volume. The Act specifies no method for determining alcohol, and a regulation citing PN-A-79033 WE HAVE NOT ESTABLISHED. For extract, acidity and carbon dioxide the standard has no counterpart in regulations giving limit values — WE HAVE NOT ESTABLISHED any.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — PKN sells it (16 pages). We give the clause numbers as the laboratories write them; we have not seen the table of contents of the standard. We do not give the sampling method and the number of samples, the rules for assessing lot defectiveness, the conditions of the refractometric and pressure measurements, the titration indicators, the culture media, incubation temperatures and times or the precision.

Method principle

According to the card of the standard: soft drinks are sampled, stored and prepared for testing, and then sensory (3 kinds), physicochemical (17 — including tightness, carbon dioxide, sodium benzoate, metals) and microbiological tests (5 — including yeast and bacterial counts) are performed; the standard also gives rules for assessing lot defectiveness. In accreditation scopes: total extract refractometrically, acidity and volatile acidity by titration, carbon dioxide by the pressure method, ethyl alcohol, sensory assessment by a simple descriptive test, bacterial counts by the plate method. The alcohol result is compared with the 0.5 % by volume limit of the Act on upbringing in sobriety. We DO NOT GIVE the details of the methods — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Soft drinks — carbonated and still; in the scope of AB 313 also juices and syrups
• Quality control: total extract, acidity, volatile acidity, carbon dioxide saturation, filling of containers, sensory assessment
• Ethyl alcohol against the 0.5 % by volume limit above which a product is an alcoholic beverage (Article 46(1) of the Act on upbringing in sobriety)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-A-79033:1985 (wersja polska)

Title (PL)

Napoje bezalkoholowe — Pobieranie próbek i metody badań

Title (EN)

Soft drinks — Sampling and test methods

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status of the document

   PKN card: standard withdrawn on 27-07-2015, "superseded by PN-A-04019:1998" — a standard on vitamin C (state of the card on 29 September 2026). For extract, acidity, CO₂, alcohol and sensory assessment the card indicates no successor; the report should state the clause of the standard.

2. Sampling and sample preparation

   According to the card the standard describes sampling, storage and preparation of samples for testing, and the rules for assessing lot defectiveness. Numbers of samples and conditions NOT GIVEN.

3. Sensory tests

   Clarity, colour, odour, taste, CO₂ saturation — simple descriptive test (clauses 3.4 and 3.5 in the scopes of AB 444 and AB 518).

4. Physicochemical tests

   Total extract refractometrically (clause 3.6.1), acidity (3.8), volatile acidity (3.9), ethyl alcohol (3.14), carbon dioxide by the pressure method, filling — numbering from the accreditation scopes.

5. Microbiological tests and assessment

   Bacterial counts at 22 °C and 37 °C by the plate method (AB 313). The alcohol result is compared with the 0.5 % by volume limit; for the other characteristics WE HAVE NOT ESTABLISHED limit values in regulations.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Bottles of carbonated drinks are under pressure — the carbon dioxide measurement and the opening of containers are done with eye protection
• TECHNICAL NOTE: the successor named on the card (PN-A-04019:1998) concerns vitamin C only — it is not a replacement for extract, acidity or carbon dioxide

Frequently asked questions