ISO 6497:2002 specifies methods of sampling animal feeding stuffs, including fish feed, for quality control for commercial, technical and legal purposes.

It is not applicable to pet foods. Nor are the methods intended for sampling for the purpose of microbiological examination. Conditions of, and requirements for, sampling are specified separately for feeding stuffs of different physical natures.

For certain categories of animal feeding stuff, specific methods of sampling are specified in other International Standards. A list of these can be found in the bibliography. When sampling the products specified, it is these methods which shall be used.

Methods of sampling for the determination of substances likely to be non-uniformly distributed are described in an annex.