Determination of allergens in foods

Food allergy presents an emerging challenge to food safety and mandatory labelling of relevant food allergens is still in debate. To date there are only a few validated detection methods available for a limited number of food allergens. Immunological detection of food allergens can involve either human serum IgE or animal antibodies. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays are currently the method of choice to determine allergens in various food products. Polymerase chain reaction assays are promising tools for the future. Performance parameters of the methods such as sensitivity, specificity, limit of detection, recovery and reproducibility are reviewed in detail. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.