🍎 Polar compounds in animal and vegetable oils and fats — determination of the content of compounds formed during the heating of fats, used to assess the deterioration of frying fats; gravimetric method in accreditation scopes; PN-EN ISO 8420:2004 with corrigendum AC:2008

Food chemistry PN-EN ISO 8420

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. The "Scope" field of the PKN card, in full: "A method is described for determining the content of polar compounds in vegetable and animal oils and fats which are formed during the heating of fats. The field of application of the method is specified. The principle of the method, the reagents used, the apparatus, the way of sampling and preparing samples are given. The performance of the determination, the expression of results and the test report are described. Informative Annex A gives an evaluation of the column efficiency. Informative Annex B gives the results of interlaboratory tests, including the values of repeatability and reproducibility obtained" (our translation; no full stop at the end on the card). The description of ISO 8420:2002 in the Standard Norge catalogue adds: "Polar compounds are formed during the heating of fats and oils and thus the method serves to assess the deterioration of frying fats and oils with use." We did not have the text of the standard (13 pages); we read the free text of corrigendum AC:2008 in full.

STATUS (cards as of 13.10.2026). The card of PN-EN ISO 8420:2004 (Polish version) has no withdrawal note: publication 31-08-2004, 13 pages, price group G, Food, Agriculture and Forestry Sector, KT 92 Oilseeds, Vegetable and Animal Fats and their By-products, "Adopts: EN ISO 8420:2002 [IDT], ISO 8420:2002 [IDT]", "Replaces: PN-EN ISO 8420:1999 - Polish version, PN-EN ISO 8420:2003 - English version", ICS 67.200.10; in the "Additional elements" field — PN-EN ISO 8420:2004/AC:2008. The PKN search under "PN-EN ISO 8420" (12.10.2026) returns this edition and two earlier ones with the note "Withdrawn and replaced by PN-EN ISO 8420:2004 - Polish version": the 1999 edition (which adopted ISO 8420:1990) and the English edition of 2003. According to the Standard Norge catalogue (13.10.2026), ISO 8420:2002 (edition 2, ISO/TC 34/SC 11, published on 18 April 2002) has the status "Published" and corrigendum ISO 8420:2002/Cor 1:2004, and NS-EN ISO 8420:2002 (CEN/TC 307) — the status "Published".

CORRIGENDUM AC:2008 (text read in full). Corrigendum PN-EN ISO 8420:2004/AC (July 2008; adopting EN ISO 8420:2002/AC:2008 and ISO 8420:2002/AC1:2004, IDT; approved by the President of PKN on 11 July 2008) corrects errors carried over from the English version of the EN: on page 9, in Table B.1, it replaces the values of the last row — the reproducibility limit (R) for samples A, B, C, D and E is 2.92, 3.61, 1.58, 4.64 and 1.72 respectively. The corrigendum makes no other changes.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database from the production server, refreshed on 12.10.2026). Number 8420 appears in 7 records at 7 laboratories; in the current PCA documents (read on 12–13.10.2026; issues from 24.11.2025 — AB 562 — to 01.10.2026 — AB 438) — in 7 entries at the same laboratories (9 rows with the number, because AB 433 and AB 562 list the corrigendum in a separate row); a search of all downloaded PCA documents found no laboratories outside the database copy, no row with the number is set in bold italics (the suspension at the laboratory's request in the AB 438 document, from 01.10.2026, concerns other entries), and no pages are repeated in any document. Notations: "PN-EN ISO 8420:2004+AC:2008" with various spacing — AB 311, AB 343, AB 435, AB 438, AB 552; "PN-EN ISO 8420:2004" and separately "PN-EN ISO 8420:2004/AC:2008" — AB 433, AB 562. All 7 laboratories cite the corrigendum. The "Laboratories" tab (search term "PN-EN ISO 8420") shows all 7 laboratories — checked with the tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 13.10.2026.

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (database copy and PCA documents). Test object: frying fats — AB 343, AB 433, AB 552 ("frying fat"); vegetable and animal fat — AB 311; oils, animal and vegetable fats — AB 435; vegetable and animal oils and fats — AB 438; oils, vegetable and animal fats — AB 562. Technique: gravimetric method — all. Ranges of the polar compound content: 2.0–40 % — AB 343; 3.0–45.0 % (m/m) — AB 311; 3.6–45 % — AB 552; 4.0–50.0 % — AB 435; 4.3–32.7 % — AB 438; 5.0–50.0 % — AB 562; 5.6–38.8 % — AB 433.

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. No document other than corrigendum AC:2008 stands in the entries with this standard. Polar compounds in oils and fats are determined by 7 laboratories in the database copy (entries with "polarn" (polar) in the test description or parameters and with oil or fat as the test object) — all according to this standard. In the database copy the same laboratories also have, among others, the peroxide value according to PN-EN ISO 3960 (AB 311, AB 438, AB 552, AB 562) and acidity according to PN-EN ISO 660 (AB 435, AB 438, AB 552, AB 562); these determinations are described in separate Knowledge Base entries.

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. First — corrigendum: AC:2008 replaces the values of the last row of Table B.1 (reproducibility limit R); when assessing the agreement of the results of two laboratories, use the R values from the corrigendum (2.92; 3.61; 1.58; 4.64; 1.72 for samples A–E), not those from a copy of the standard without the corrigendum. Second — range: the upper limits of the laboratories' ranges are from 32.7 % (AB 438) to 50.0 % (AB 435, AB 562); polar compounds increase as the fat is used, so with a fat used for a long time check whether the result lies within the range of the laboratory concerned.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — we do not give the principle of the method, the column packing and reagents, the sample mass, the way of calculating the result, the description of samples A–E in Table B.1 or the repeatability values. We do not give permitted contents of polar compounds in frying fats — we did not check the regulations.

Method principle

The content of polar compounds formed in oils and fats during heating is determined; the standard gives the principle of the method, reagents, apparatus, an evaluation of the column efficiency (Annex A) and interlaboratory data (Annex B, reproducibility limits corrected by AC:2008) — PKN card; in accreditation scopes the gravimetric method. WE DO NOT GIVE the principle of the method or details — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Frying fats and oils — assessment of deterioration with use (description of ISO 8420 in the Standard Norge catalogue)
• Vegetable and animal oils and fats — polar compounds in the current accreditation scopes of 7 laboratories (2.0–50.0 %)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN ISO 8420:2004 + AC:2008

Title (PL)

Oleje i tłuszcze roślinne oraz zwierzęce — Oznaczanie zawartości związków polarnych

Title (EN)

Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of content of polar compounds

Step-by-step procedure

1. Sample

   Sampling and preparation of the sample according to the standard (PKN card); WE DO NOT GIVE the details. PN-EN ISO 8420:2004 current, with corrigendum AC:2008 (card as of 13.10.2026).

2. Column

   The standard evaluates the column efficiency in Annex A (PKN card); WE DO NOT GIVE its principle of operation or the conditions.

3. Determination

   In accreditation scopes — gravimetric method; WE DO NOT GIVE the way of calculation.

4. Result

   Content of polar compounds in % (at AB 311 % (m/m)); for interlaboratory comparisons — the reproducibility limits from corrigendum AC:2008.

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• Reagents according to the standard — safety rules of a chemical laboratory and the safety data sheets of the reagents used
• SUBJECT-MATTER NOTE: the reproducibility limits in Table B.1 apply as worded in corrigendum AC:2008

Frequently asked questions