Food allergies are recognised as a food safety issue. Fish are one of the main causes of food hypersensitive reactions. Sensitised individuals can react to a wide range of allergenic foods and different quantities, and must avoid the consumption of foods containing them meaning it is essential labelling of products is accurate. In this sense, the first fast real-time PCR to detect fish in all kind of products including processed products was developed successfully. This method provides advantages with respect to accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, dynamic range, high-throughput capacity, and lower risk of contamination, and reduces the time for analysis to 43 min. Furthermore, the method was compared with a commercial kit, which highlighted several advantages of the in-house real-time PCR. The method is a useful tool to address questions
regarding food quality and security, and in the verification the
implementation of labelling regulations to ensure the consumer
protection.