Recently, a New Work Item Proposal (NWIP) titled Cereals and Cereal Products — Rapid Determination of Cadmium Content — Solid Sampling Electrothermal Vaporization Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, jointly submitted by the Cereal and Oil Quality Monitoring Center of Hunan Province and Changsha Kaiyuan Hocent Technology Co., Ltd. under the organization of the Standard and Quality Center of the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, has been officially approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Subcommittee on Cereals and Pulses (ISO/TC34/SC4) of the Technical Committee on Food Products. This marks the first international standard for grain testing led and proposed by Hunan Province. The project will be developed under the newly established ISO/TC34/SC4/WG15 (Working Group 15 on Heavy Metal Determination) of the Cereals and Pulses Subcommittee.

Traditional testing methods for determining cadmium are characterized by large equipment requirements, complex sample pre-treatment and long time consumption.  In contrast, the newly proposed method offers significant advantages, including no sample pretreatment, high speed and accuracy, and ease of operation. It has already been widely applied in China’s grain industry.

The development of this project embodies China’s long-term technological accumulation and innovative achievements in the field of grain and oil quality and safety monitoring. It will fill a critical gap in the international standards system for cereals and pulses, particularly in the rapid determination of heavy metals with solid sampling. The successful approval of this project will not only facilitate the global adoption of China’s advanced technologies and practices, but also provide an efficient and reliable testing benchmark for global grain storage, international trade, and mutual recognition of regulations. It is of great significance for enhancing global grain quality and safety, facilitating international grain trade, and safeguarding global food security.

Moving forward, the project team will strictly follow the ISO’s international standard development procedures to advance the standard-setting process efficiently, striving for its early publication and contributing Chinese expertise to the global grain industry.