Overview
ISO 18390:2025 - "Cereals, pulses and cereal products - Sampling - Simplified routine method" specifies a practical, simplified procedure for routine sampling of cereals, pulses and cereal products. The standard covers dynamic (flowing) and static sampling, by manual or mechanical means, to assess quality, condition and the presence of heterogeneously distributed contaminants or homogeneously distributed parameters. It is intended for daily use in the field, in silos and in factories that ship or receive grain. ISO 18390:2025 does not apply to seed sampling (governed by ISTA) or to insect-infestation assessment (see ISO 16002 and ISO 6639-2).
Key topics and technical requirements
- Sampling stages: take increments, create an aggregate (composite) sample, homogenize, and reduce to laboratory sample(s).
- Sample types and definitions: incremental sample, aggregate (composite) sample, laboratory sample, homogenization and lot definitions are standardized.
- Number and mass of samples: prescriptive tables (for grain, milled products and pre‑packaged units) define how many increments and what masses to collect; a laboratory sample is taken per lot or sublot of up to 1 500 t (example: a 6 000 t lot needs four laboratory samples).
- Dynamic vs static sampling: procedures adapted for flowing products (loading/unloading) and static masses; mechanical and manual methods are described with guidance on when to prefer each.
- Equipment and devices: selection criteria for manual triers, hand scoops, mechanical samplers and vacuum samplers; cleanliness, access for maintenance and electrostatic considerations.
- Sample reduction methods: sample dividers, cone-and-quarter method and reduction of heterogeneity guidance for preparing laboratory samples.
- Packaging, labelling, shipment and traceability: requirements to protect samples, preserve volatile components, and ensure integrity until analysis.
- Health & safety and arbitration: operational safety and procedures for dispute sampling (buyer/seller/third party).
Practical applications and who uses it
ISO 18390:2025 is intended for:
- Grain elevator operators, silo managers and loading/unloading personnel
- QA/QC laboratories and food testing labs receiving field samples
- Milling and cereal-processing factories that ship or receive grain and cereal products
- Commodity traders, inspectors and third‑party sampling agents
- Regulators and compliance teams checking specification conformity
Use cases include routine quality control, monitoring for contaminants that are unevenly distributed (e.g., hot spots of contaminants), incoming/outgoing shipment checks, and daily operational sampling in mills and silos.
Related standards
- ISO 24333 - Cereals and cereal products - Sampling (normative reference)
- ISO/TR 29263 - Comparative assessments of routine vs reference sampling methods
- ISO 16002 and ISO 6639-2 - Methods for assessing insect populations in grain
- ISTA rules - Seed sampling and testing
Keywords: ISO 18390:2025, cereal sampling, grain sampling standard, simplified routine method, sampling cereals and pulses, aggregate sample, laboratory sample, static and dynamic sampling.
