ELISA
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs) have been much favoured in allergen analysis. The specificity and sensitivity of ELISA technology, with limits of detection or quantification at low mg/kg level, make it a simple tool for allergen detection and quantification, allowing relatively fast and high throughput analysis. It is widely used in food industry laboratories and by official food-control bodies to detect and quantify allergens present in allergenic food or commodities. So far, ELISA test kits validated for defined matrices include peanut (in cereals, cookies, ice cream and chocolate; under the auspices of AOAC and EC JRC, Park et al 2005, Poms et al 2005) and hazelnut (in cereals, ice cream and chocolate; under the auspices of the German Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety, BVL).