Allergens

Allergies are disproportionately strong immunological responses to non-infectious substances, so-called allergens. In Germany about 6% of the population is affected, the symptons range from mild skin rashes to life-threatening anaphylactic shock reactions. Allergens, which are components of foodstuffs, are particular problematic.

Although the EU Regulation for Foodstuff Information (LMIV) has been determining clear information- and labeling obligations for food producers to clearly mark potential allergens, lacks in declaration or unintentional contaminations  during production can not be excluded.

 

More than 90% of all food allergies and intolerances  can be traced back to the following causes and have to be labelled in the list of ingredients.

  • Eggs
  • Peanuts
  • Fish
  • Cereals containing gluten
  • Crustaceans
  • Lupine
  • Milk and lactose
  • Nuts
  • Sulphure dioxide and sulphite
  • Cellery
  • Mustard
  • Sesame
  • Soya
  • Molluscs

So the availability of sensitive and reliable analytical tools for the detection of allergens is an absolute necessity.

Impetus Bioscience does not only use standard protein-based ELISA methods but also in-house developed DNA-based PCR methods.

Continuous new developments do not only enable the detection of the above mentioned 14 allergens but also many others, e.g. ambrosia and coconut.