Validation of a rapid analysis to determine sodium chloride levels in canned tomatoes

The EU food safety policy aims to ensure a high level of safety at all stages of the production and distribution of food products marketed in the ‘EU, whether produced within the Union or imported from third countries. Sodium chloride, nitric acid, and calcium chloride are the only additives allowed in the production of canned tomatoes. NaCl is a dehydrating agent. Its level must not exceed 3% in canned tomatoes. In official analyses, the Volhard test is employed to measure its levels. Unfortunately, this method is very laborious and does not allow the daily analysis of many samples. In this work, to meet the needs of commodity laboratories, which have to analyze many samples daily, an automated colorimetric test that can determine sodium chloride in canned tomatoes was validated in terms of linearity, the limit of detection and quantification, measured range, accuracy, precision, and recovery. The automatized colorimetric method showed precision, accuracy, and recovery (≥ 95%) statistically equivalent to the Vohlard test. Therefore, it can use for the routine analysis of chlorides in canned tomatoes streamlining analytical laboratories’ work.