Overview
ISO 707:2008 (IDF 50:2008) - "Milk and milk products - Guidance on sampling" provides practical guidance for sampling milk and milk products intended for microbiological, chemical, physical and sensory analysis. It covers manual sampling procedures, sample preservation, storage and transport, and documentation requirements, but explicitly excludes (semi)automated sampling. The standard is written as guidance (good practice) rather than as a legal specification and is widely used by laboratories, dairy producers and regulators.
Key topics and requirements
- Scope and definitions
- Clarifies terms such as laboratory sample and test portion and notes that sampling is part of the measurement procedure.
- Sampling personnel
- Sampling must be performed by an authorized, trained person (e.g., microbiologically competent and free from infectious disease).
- Sealing, labelling and replicate samples
- Guidance on sealing and labelling samples, taking duplicate or additional sets for arbitration, and retaining samples when agreed.
- Sampling report
- Minimum report contents (examples from the standard): place/date/time, names of samplers/witnesses, precise sampling and homogenization methods, consignment identification, batch codes, sample identifiers, destination, and producer/trader details. Additional relevant conditions (temperature, packaging, preservatives) should be recorded.
- Apparatus and hygiene
- Sampling equipment should be of suitable materials (stainless steel or equivalent), smooth and clean. For microbiological sampling, equipment must be sterilized or sterile disposables used.
- Recognized sterilization methods include:
- Method A: hot air at 170 °C for at least 1 hour
- Method B: autoclave steam at 121 °C ± 1 °C for at least 15 minutes
- Method C: adequate dose of γ-radiation
- Product-specific guidance
- Detailed sampling approaches for milk, liquid products, evaporated/sweetened condensed milk, semi-solid and solid products (including cheese and butter), edible ices, dried milk, butterfat, and related products.
- Annexes
- Practical aids such as sampling equipment examples, insulated transport container design and use, and a sample cheese sampling report.
Practical applications and users
ISO 707:2008 is used by:
- Dairy laboratories performing microbiological, chemical, physical and sensory tests
- Quality control teams in dairy processors and manufacturers
- Regulatory authorities and auditors validating compliance and sampling chains
- Forensic and arbitration sampling for disputes (duplicate/arbitration samples)
It helps reduce sampling-related variability, informs sample handling and transport, and supports traceable, defensible test results - especially important for heterogeneous products like cheese where sampling location and method significantly affect outcomes.
Related standards
- ISO 7002 (layout for sampling from a lot)
- ISO 7218 (microbiological examination; sterilization references)
- ISO 78-2 (laboratory sample/test portion definitions)
- ISO/IEC 17025 (laboratory competence and requirement for written procedures)
- ISO 5538 / ISO 8197 (sampling plans and inspection methods)
