Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Election Results 2018-2019 AOCS Governing Board

The election results are in! Congratulations and thank you to those elected to the AOCS Governing Board.

Governing Board members volunteer their time, experience and knowledge to influence and improve the Society.


Members of the Executive Committee
Len Sidisky, President
Eric Decker, Vice President
Doug Bibus, Treasurer (2nd term exp. 5/19)
Phil Kerr, Secretary (1st term exp, 5/20)
Neil Widlak, Past President

At-Large Members
Gerard Baillely (2nd term exp. 5/20)
Leon Pablo Espinosa (1st term exp. 5/20)
Greg Hatfield (1st term exp. 5/20)
Doug Hayes (1st term exp. 5/19)
Silvana Martini (1st term exp. 5/20)
Grant Mitchell (2nd term exp. 5/20)
Magdi Mossoba (2nd term exp. 5/20)
Dilip Nakhasi (2nd term exp. 5/20)
Tony O’Lenick (1st term exp. 5/19)
George Smith (2nd term exp. 5/19)


To find out more about AOCS Governance please visit https://www.aocs.org/info/about-aocs/governance

Interested in volunteering your time to shape the future of AOCS? Visit https://www.aocs.org/network-and-connect/volunteer or contact Janet Brown at janet.brown@aocs.org

Call For Participant Labs - Collaborative Trial for Determination of Phthalate Residues in Oils and Fats

At its last meeting, the members of ISO/ TC34/SC11 adopted Resolution 550/17 concerning the determination of phthalate residues in oils and fats.  Members agreed that the French and Australian methods would be harmonized and that this method would be used for a collaborative trial.  AOCS has been asked to coordinate the US participation in the trial. The project leader for this work is M Watiez (AFNOR).  The samples for this trial have been carefully chosen and information concerning all precautions to prevent contamination will be given.

The samples will comprise:

- 3 samples of refined sunflower oil (1 unspiked and 2 spiked);
- 1 olive oil;
- 1 walnut oil;
- possibly a second olive oil field sample containing DEHP.

There will be one training sample of refined rapeseed oil with a known amount of phthalates.

It is proposed to send out all the samples at the beginning of March 2018 with the results for 1 blank trial (DEHP method and/or 8 phthalate method) and for the training sample to be returned by mid-May 2018.The results for 1 blank trial and for the rest of the samples (6 samples) should be returned by mid-June 2018.


Members are asked to provide the names and contact details of analytical chemists within their countries who wish to participate in this collaborative trial.  The attached method together with the list of analytes is attached for potential participating labs.

If your lab would like to participate and is within the USA, please send the complete contact information to myself at douglas.rennie@aocs.org, with the subject line "Determination of Phthalate Residues in Oils and Fats".  Please submit your contact information ASAP for consideration.



Thursday, February 22, 2018

JAOCS article of the month: E-tongue discrimination of monovarietal olive oils

“Simple and cost-effective techniques for evaluating physicochemical and sensory attributes of olive oil for traceability, authenticity, adulteration and legal purposes are needed,” says Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society (JAOCS) Editor-in-Chief James Kenar. In Kenar’s choice for JAOCS article of the month, AntĂ³nio M. Peres at the Instituto PolitĂ©cnico de Bragnaça, in Portugal, and colleagues have coupled a potentiometric electronic tongue with chemometric analyses to discriminate the geographical origin, olive cultivar and quality grade of monovarietal Tunisian olive oils from nearby regions experiencing similar climatic and agroecological factors. The results show good sensitivity and demonstrate this technology as a possible strategy for olive oil analysis. The article is available for free download through April 20.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Save 25% on all Quality Reference Materials purchased in February



Do you need to troubleshoot proficiency testing performance, train new staff, or test new methods? Quality Reference Materials (QRMs) provide known samples with reliable report results to validate quality control. Use the code QRMSALE to save 25% when purchasing any QRM in February.

Every QRM purchase includes peer-reviewed reports with
  • Consensus mean
  • Standard deviation
  • z-score (with chart) 
  • Kernel density plot for various components