Choosing a suitable method for testing food allergens may sound easy. But which allergen testing method should you choose? A rapid test? ELISA allergen testing? Real Time PCR allergen testing? We can offer you different food allergen testing methods for most food allergens – but most importantly, choose the method that meets your specific requirements. What follows is how we can help you manage food allergens.
- The choice of analytical method depends on the type of food you are testing as well as the number of samples to be tested, the kind of result you want, for example whether you want quantitative or qualitative determination; the laboratory equipment already available or in use; and whether you are testing the product or the trial production environment.
- ELISA allergen testing is the method of choice for testing large numbers of samples. Combined with automation solutions, they are ideal and give high sample throughput. They deliver quantitative results and are widely accepted as official or reference methods, for example ELISA RIDASCREEN Gliadin is the official AOAC method for determining gluten in food.
- Allergen testing by Real Time PCR, or qPCR is an excellent choice for confirmatory testing or for identifying deeper allergenicity, for example to determine which grain contains gluten. A further advantage is the simple extraction protocol, the standardised method protocol and the optional use of carry-over testing. This method gives the most accurate results compared with the 2 remaining methods
- Rapid allergen testing is the method of choice for rapid testing, on site as well as for quick product testing. They are very easy to use and give qualitative results – presence or absence. No equipment is needed, but we have developed a very useful tool to record your results: RIDA SMART APP Allergen. This is an app that can be installed on any smartphone running Android and makes it easier for you to keep track of your results. See this product, download the free app and it is already freely available in Google Play Store
Example: Peanut allergen testing
- Suppose you send 10 or more samples to the laboratory every day to measure the peanut protein content in these products. ELISA is the preferred method and you may also be interested in automation. One of the products gives an unexpected result: you have detected peanuts by ELISA, but the supplier is certain that there cannot be peanuts in it. To be sure, you check the sample by carry-over PCR and you can confirm the presence of peanut residues (as well as walnut – detected thanks to carry-over qPCR).
- You suspect that cross-contamination may have occurred during product production and you ask the supplier to check the production line by side-flow testing before and after cleaning, as well as the CIP water. The results are recorded in the RIDA SMART APP Allergen application and forwarded to you. The conclusion is very simple and fully documented. It is just one example of how we can help you test for and manage food allergens.
What do our customers say?
We asked customers why they chose the method they are using and how these methods help them monitor quality day to day. You will find the answer in our new brochure on food allergen testing solutions. Download the brochure “Food Allergen Testing Solutions” and learn more about our range of food allergen testing methods and find out which method your colleagues have chosen.
Customers can find our allergen test products at the following link:
https://pacificlab.vn/vi/shops/group/phan-tich-chat-gay-di-ung/