Abstract The AOAC colorimetric acetylacetone method for formaldehyde in sugar products is optimized by means of the simplex experimental design process. The resultant method is almost 4 times as sensitive as the original AOAC method. It is about 33% more sensitive than the simplex optimized J-acid procedure and 45% more sensitive than the simplex optimized chromotropic acid method and, thus, represents one of the most sensitive methods now available. The average relative standard deviation is about ±2.7%. The limit of detectability is estimated to be 30 ppb. The didactic exposition of the simplex optimization process reported earlier is applied to the AOAC acetyl-acetone method. Further insights into simplex operations are provided and certain advantages of simplex application are pointed out. It is shown that, by sacrificing the high sensitivity of the optimized method the parameters of the new method result in about a 10-fold increase in analytical speed. Further application of kinetic considerations and the advantages of high quality, productivity, and economy in chemical analytical methods by means of the simplex experimental design process are described.