# Commission Regulation (EC) No 1882/2006 of 19 December 2006 laying down methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of the levels of nitrates in certain foodstuffs (Text with EEA relevance), Division B.1: Sampling in the field

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

In case the competent authority considers it necessary to sample the lettuce or spinach in the field, the sampling has to be performed as follows:
Incremental samples shall not be collected from areas that appear to be unrepresentative of the field or area under cover. Areas with different soil types, which have been subjected to different cultivation practices or contain different lettuce or spinach varieties, or to be harvested at a different time, shall be treated as separate lots or fields. If the field is larger than 3 hectares, the field shall be divided into sublots of 2 hectares and each sublot shall be sampled separately.
Incremental samples shall be collected by walking a ‘W’ or ‘X’ shaped pattern across the field. Crops harvested from narrow beds or area under cover shall be harvested in a ‘W’ or ‘X’ shaped pattern from several beds and pooled to form the aggregate sample.
Plants must be cut at ground level.
The sample must contain at least 10 plants, and the aggregate sample of 10 plants must weigh at least 1 kg. Only units of a marketable size shall be sampled. Soil, outer non-edible and damaged leaves shall be removed from each unit.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2006/1882/annex/division/B/division/B.1 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2006-1882/annex/division-B/division-B.1
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.