Food Allergens Profiling with an Imaging Surface Plasmon Resonance-Based Biosensor

Food allergy is a growing health concern, which currently affects approximately 4% of adults and 8% of infants. For consumer protection purposes, food producers are required by law to disclose on the product label whether a major allergen is used during the production process. The commonly employed monitoring methods are highly laborious, time-consuming, and often expensive when screening for multiple allergens. Here, we utilize imaging surface plasmon resonance (iSPR) in combination with antibody array for rapid, quantitative, and multianalyte food allergens detection. We demonstrate how the use of this technology provides a complete allergen profile within short measurement time and with adequate sensitivity. The successful applicability of this approach is demonstrated by analyzing cookies and dark chocolate products from different manufacturers. Hazelnut content of the tested food products is also determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and is found to correlate well with the hazelnut content determined by iSPR. This newly developed method opens the door to automated and high-throughput allergen analysis, ultimately aiming at providing the consumer with safer food.