ABSTRACT

Introduction ............................................................................................................ 154 Allergenic Food and Allergens ......................................................................... 154 Legislation ......................................................................................................... 154 Cereals as Allergens and with Regard to Celiac Disease ................................. 155 Egg Allergens .................................................................................................... 156 Milk Allergens .................................................................................................. 157 Soy Allergens .................................................................................................... 157 Sesame Seed Allergens ..................................................................................... 158 Celery as Allergen ............................................................................................. 158 RASFF Reports ................................................................................................. 158

Methods for Allergen Detection in Cereals ........................................................... 158 Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ........................................................... 162 Polymerase Chain Reaction .............................................................................. 164

Detection of Food Allergens and Potentially Allergenic Food Constituents in Cereal Food Products ............................................................................................. 164

Detection of Cereal Allergens in Cereal Food Products ................................... 164 Detection of Other Allergens in Cereals ........................................................... 168

Egg Detection ............................................................................................... 168 Detection of Whey Proteins and Caseins ..................................................... 169 Soy Detection ............................................................................................... 170 Sesame Protein Detection ............................................................................ 170

References .............................................................................................................. 171

INTRODUCTION

Allergenic Food and Allergens

Over 160 food materials have been identi‹ed as allergenic. Only eight of them involve more than 90% of all food allergies.1 for the allergic consumer, it is particularly important to have full information about potential allergens contained in a food product. Practically all known food allergens that can cause an immunological reaction are proteins. Allergenic proteins are normally heat resistant, withstand food-manufacturing processes, and are unaffected by low pH and enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract. It is estimated that the causes of the majority of all food allergies are proteins in common foods such as milk; eggs; ‹sh; crustaceans; legumes (e.g., peanuts, soybeans, peas, lupine seeds); nuts (e.g., hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, pine nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts, almonds, apricot kernels); seeds (e.g., sesame seeds, sun•ower seeds, poppy seeds, mustard seeds); cereals (wheat, rye, barley, oats); corn; and buckwheat. However, many other foods can also cause allergies, although reactions to these are less common. Due to many serious reactions to celery, reported in particular from central and southern Europe, celery is included among the foods that must always be declared.