First multi-allergen reference material kit containing five common allergens

A consortium, led by LGC in partnership with the University of Manchester and Romer Laboratories Ltd, has recently completed a project (FS101206) funded by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to develop a multi-allergen reference material kit containing five common allergens.    

Recent studies suggest that food allergies affect between 1.1 and 10.8% of the global population, and the prevalence of these allergies seems to be on the rise. Analyzing food and food ingredients for the presence of allergens is crucial to guarantee safe food for people with allergies, protect the supply chain and assit businesses and risk assessors.    

Nonetheless, analysis has been hindered by the absence of reliable reference materials that verify and standardize the performance of lab tests. This project partially addressed this issue. The project successfully developed and characterized the first-ever multi-allergen reference material kit, which includes five common allergens (milk, egg, almond, hazelnut, walnut) traceable to the SI (International System of Units).    

This kit will benefit scientists and the industry by supporting the development of methods to accurately determine allergen content and help labs monitor the performance of these methods daily.    

LGC has released a report outlining the project's governance, stakeholder engagement to optimize the reference material kit's format and contents, and its preparation and characterization. Further information can be found in three peer-reviewed publications cited in the report.    

The FSA acknowledges that this project does not completely solve all challenges in food allergen analysis, so it has recommended additional work to build upon the solid foundation established by this initiative.      

 

Source:    

Food Standard Agency