ABSTRACT
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 178 Allergenic Properties of Fish ................................................................................. 178
Allergic Reactions to Fish ................................................................................. 178 Cross-Reactivity among Fish Species ............................................................... 178 Threshold .......................................................................................................... 179 Fish Allergens ................................................................................................... 179
Allergenic Properties of Crustaceans .................................................................... 183 Allergic Reactions to Crustaceans .................................................................... 183 Cross-Reactivity among Crustacean Species .................................................... 183 Threshold .......................................................................................................... 184 Crustacean Allergens ........................................................................................ 184
Allergenic Properties of Mollusks ......................................................................... 186 Allergic Reactions to Mollusks ......................................................................... 186 Cross-Reactivity Involving Molluscan Species ................................................ 186 Threshold .......................................................................................................... 187 Molluscan Allergens ......................................................................................... 187
Detection and Quanti‹cation Methods .................................................................. 189 Sample Extraction ............................................................................................. 190 Fish Assays ........................................................................................................ 191 Crustacean Assays ............................................................................................ 193 Mollusk Assays ................................................................................................. 195
References .............................................................................................................. 195
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents a concise overview of the allergenic properties of seafoods: ‹sh, crustaceans, and mollusks. In addition, the analytical techniques for detecting and quantifying the allergenic protein residues derived from ‹sh, crustaceans, and mollusks in foods are discussed. Several detection methods for ‹sh residues have been published, but they are not well developed yet, and problems still exist regarding the speci‹city of the antibodies for detecting the allergenic ‹sh residues regardless of the ‹sh species. A few methods exist for detecting the major tropomyosin allergen found in crustacean shell‹sh and have proven useful for detecting crustacean residues in foods. No published methods exist for the detection of residues of mollusks. Laws in the United States and the European Union mandated the listing of ‹sh and crustacean shell‹sh on food ingredient labels; the European Union has recently included molluscan shell‹sh on this list of allergens to be declared. Therefore, there is a growing need for the development of reliable, rapid, and practical methods for routine analysis of undeclared allergenic seafood residues in foods.
