Rapid lateral flow tests in a Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points-based approach for allergen monitoring

Abstract

Allergen management in food companies is now becoming increasingly important. Under Article 5 of the European Commission Hygiene Code 852/2004, food companies are required to introduce, carry out and maintain regular hygiene controls based on Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points principles. The Codex Alimentarius contains a general description of the Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points principles. Thus, Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points is defined as a system, which is designed to identify the health risks from food and to implement preventive measures for their control. With sensitive people, even slight traces of allergens can trigger an allergic reaction, which may result in anaphylactic shock in the severest cases, and this can be lethal if untreated. To ensure food safety for consumer protection, the products must be correctly labelled and cross‐contamination by contaminated raw materials, in production processes, during storage or transportation must be prevented. R‐Biopharm supports food companies when optimizing the allergen management system by offering rapid allergen tests for analysing processes. Food manufacturers should use fast and reliable processes to check for allergen contamination in food production. The increased importance of these detection methods is indicated by the current debate and the fact that some of these methods have been officially validated and approved. Richter M, Haas‐Lauterbach S, Schmitt K (2010). Rapid lateral flow tests in a Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points‐based approach for allergen monitoring. Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, 2, 165–172.

Rapid and Sensitive Detection of the Food Allergen Glycinin in Powdered Milk Using a Lateral Flow Colloidal Gold Immunoassay Strip Test

“…Although some lateral flow assays designed for the determination of food allergens have been reported, − there has been no scientific report or sufficient validation of a lateral flow assay for detecting glycinin. In the present study, a novel immunochromatographic lateral flow test strip was developed using the sandwich format, which is applicable for target analytes with more than one epitope (high molecular mass analytes) .…”