Food allergies represent an important health problem in developed countries. Undeclared allergens as contaminants in food products constitute a high risk to people sensitive to these allergens. In hypersensitive individuals, even the intake of trace amounts of these allergens can cause digestive disorders, respiratory symptoms, skin reactions or life-threatening reactions like anaphylactic shock. Therefore, reliable detection methods are needed to detect these food allergens in order to ensure compliance with European Food Labelling Directive 2003/89/EC and to improve consumer’s safety. Eggs from hens (Gallus gallus) is considered allergenic food and is explicitly mentioned in the European Food Labelling Directive. The egg whit is rich in allergens which are Ovomucoid (Gal d1), Ovalbumin (Gal d2), Ovotransferrin (Conoalbumin) (Gal d3) and Lysozyme (Gal d4). Pure Ovalbumin is often used for the fining of wine there for wine consumption with non declared allergens is a hazard for people suffering from allergies.

Milk is also considered as allergenic food and is explicitly mentioned in the European Food Labelling Directive. The major allergens present in milk are casein and beta lactoglobulin.
 

Test principle

AlerTox kits are quantitative ELISA Sandwich type immunoabsorbent assay designed for the detection and quantification of the allergen en question. During the test, the sample is added to a plate that specifically recognizes the allergen. After the washing steps, the addition of another antibody conjugated to peroxidase (HRP), which also recognizes the allergen, results in a measurable signal.

AlerTox  ELISA Sandwich is a direct method therefore the higher concentration of allergen present the more intense the signal will be.

The ELISA Sandwich is a technique usually used for the analysis of substances found at very low concentrations. This combined with the high specificity and sensitivity of the antibodies used in these test allows this method to precisely quantify allergen in beverages and food. AlerTox ELISA can be used with any type of food sample. However, AlerTox Lysozyme and Ovalbumin kits are only validated for wine samples.