and mustard in the European Union.Thislegislationcan be anticipated to drive
foodmanufacturersto use test kits muchmoreextensivelyto demonstrate for
legalpurposes that theirallergenrisk managementprocedures are effective.
Althoughallergentestinghas not proved to be the primarymechanismof
enforcement in somelegislatures where it has a longer history, suchas the USA,
enforcement authoritieswillundoubtedly seekto use themto support other
evidence. Except for Switzerland,currentlegislationdoesnot address the issue
of allergen presencethroughcross-contact, and actionlevels havenot yet been
set. However,as allergen test kits become usedto a greaterextent,pressureis
likelyto grow,particularly frommanufacturers, for definedactionlevels, below
whichthe presenceof the allergen wouldnot constitute an infringement of the
law.If action levels are not set by the agencies or the legislators, theywill
probably be definedby caselaw, whichis probably not an idealmechanism for
this typeof issue.
Determination of NOAELsand theiruse will providemanufacturerswith
definedtargets for theirallergen management policies,in termsof what amounts
constitute a risk to what proportionof foodallergy sufferers.Theywill also
provide manufacturers with information for improved control of allergen
hazards.Such control will,however, requirethatthey knowwhat levelof
allergenic residues are presentin theirproducts. Measurementof allergenic
residues at appropriate pointsduring the manufacturing process will be one way
to obtain this informationand could thereforeincreaseconsiderablyfromits
currentrelativelylimited use.
Monitoring the allergenicityof certainfoodsor foodproducts is another area
where detection of allergenic residues could play an increasing role, as
manufacturersseekto providefoodswithreducedallergenicity.However,this
areais likelyto havea lowerimpactthanthe previoustwo,as lookingfor
residual allergenicity by protein quantificationis onlyone of severalsteps in
defining reduced allergenicity.
Foodallergy significantly impairsqualityof life for sufferers.21,22Greater
controlovertheircondition by foodallergysuffererswouldundoubtedly help
restore some of this quality.Demand for meansto do so couldspur an extension
of the measurementof allergenicresidues to this totallynew area.Thisprospect
is probably still quitedistant, inasmuchas it requires methodsthat are simpleto
use and robust. A critical questionwill be the extent of the test manufacturer's
legalliability in the eventof an allergennot being detected and producing a
reactionin a sufferer.
23.6 References
- PRAUSNITZ,C., KU»STNER, H.(1921)Studienu»ber die Ueberempfindlichkeit.Centralbl
BakteriolAbt Orig 86 , 160±169. - LOVELESS,M.H.(1950)Milkallergy:a surveyof its incidence:experimentswith
maskedingestiontest.J Allergy 21 , 489±499.
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