Assay Detects Minute Amounts of Lupin

A novel laboratory test kit has been developed that detects very low levels--down to one part per million (ppm) or less--of lupin residues in food and its raw material commodities.

The European Community's Standing Committee, Food Chain and Animal Health
(Scofcah), has added lupin and mollusks to the list for mandatory allergen ingredient labeling. Most edible or "sweet” lupin products are derived from three species: lupinus angustifolius, albus, and luteus. For a small percentage of people, lupin is a potent allergen, and a significant proportion of peanut allergy sufferers are clinically cross-reactive to lupin proteins. Lupin may also be an inhalant allergen.

To help food manufacturers comply with this new legislation and provide food analysis laboratories with a detection method for lupin residues in food, Hallmark Analytical Ventures (Chester, UK) has developed a novel laboratory test kit that detects very low levels of lupin residues.

The Haven lupin enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) kit is designed to be used in analytic laboratories that need to perform analyses to confirm or exclude the presence of allergen traces in foodstuffs. The assay detects the protein fraction of lupin flour as a marker of total lupin flour content within a range of one to 16 ppm or above (limit of detection < 0.25 ppm).

Originally developed in collaboration with the National Veterinary Institute (Oslo, Norway), the kits were commercialized and are now manufactured by Hallmark Analytical Ventures under license.



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Hallmark Analytical Ventures