An allergen is an agent or substance that causes an allergic reaction. A food allergy is an abnormal reaction of the immune system to consumed products or compounds added to food, causing symptoms ranging from skin irritation to gastrointestinal disorders and anaphylactic shock.
The presence of ingredients in food products that may cause allergic reactions in consumers must be declared on the packaging. Food producers are not only obliged to carefully control the quality of the entire production and distribution process, but they should also monitor potential risks.
It is estimated that food allergies affect over 2% of the adult population and around 4-8% of children. Consumption of allergenic food by an allergic person may cause a reaction of the skin, digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems – urticaria, angioedema (larynx, lips, tongue, face), atopic dermatitis (eczema), asthma, rhinitis, vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach cramps, hypotension and life-threatening anaphylactic shock.
To ensure the safety of foodstuffs, rapid, sensitive and reliable methods for the detection and quantification of food allergens in food are needed that can be routinely used by the manufacturing plant or food safety and quality control agencies.
J.S. Hamilton Poland carries out qualitative and quantitative allergen tests in a modern Molecular Biology Laboratory in Tychy, both in finished products and in swabs and washings using methods based on immunoenzymatic determination of proteins and detection of specific DNA using real-time PCR technique.
Additionally, determination of lactose allergen is performed by GC-FID gas chromatography technique, while sulphur dioxide is tested through distillation method in food products containing not less than 10 mg/kg of sulphites.
Allergens tested at J.S. Hamilton Poland
- lactose,
- shellfish,
- eggs,
- fish,
- mollusca,
- nuts,
- soy,
- celery,
- mustard,
- sesame,
- sulfur dioxide,
- lupin,
- milk,
- gluten.