Allergen detection by LC-MS/MS

By Dr. Bert Popping, Eurofins Germany

Traditionally, the presence of allergens in food has been determined by the ELISA and PCR techniques. These technologies have been established for many years and are routinely used in most laboratories' and manufacturing facilities' testing for the presence of food allergens. The benefit of these technologies is their wide availability and ease of use. Furthermore, over the years they have been proven to work for a wide range of matrices.

However, scientists at US-FDA as well as other institutes have shown over the past seven years that in some processed materials such as yoghurt based dressing, bakery products, cookies and in one case chocolate, the ELISA technique did not detect the presence of a significant amount of milk and egg. With the newly developed Eurofins' technology of allergen testing by Liquid Chromatography combined with Mass Spectrometric detection (LC-MS/MS) scientists could show that in bakery products, large quantities of egg and milk, which remained undetected by ELISA, were easily detected by LC-MS/MS. With the three technologies of PCR, ELISA and LC-MS/MS, Eurofins now has a complete portfolio of technologies available, which can handle difficult, processed matrices, consistently providing reliable results. This enables customers to make better risk management decisions based on analytical data provided, thereby protecting their brands from costly recalls and damage.

Contact: BertPopping@eurofins.com