To obtain a more precise estimate of the accuracy of near infrared (NIR) sp
ectroscopy in determination of total solids and fat in cheese, the measured
standard error of prediction (SEP) should be corrected for imprecision of
the reference method. High precision of reference data obtained through rep
licate analyses may not be the optimal goal in practice for the development
and maintenance of calibration equations. In a situation of limited resour
ces, it may be better to accept an increase in imprecision by reducing the
number of replicate analyses for each sample and instead introducing additi
onal samples. In the case here reported, it was possible to increase the st
andard deviation related to precision of reference data from 0.08 to 0.14%
for total solids and from 0.08 to 0.16% for fat without any pronounced effe
ct on the accuracy of NIR transmission spectroscopy in the calibration rang
e 50-63% for total solids and 23-29% for fat. The mean SEPs were 0.19% for
total solids and 0.18% for fat. if the standard deviation was increased fro
m 0.08 to 0.32% for total solids and from 0.08% to 0.28% for fat, the mean
absolute increases in SEPs were 0.02% for total solids and 0.03% for fat.