Rapid and accurate electrochemical sensor for food allergen detection in complex foods

Food allergies are estimated to affect about 2–5% of adults and 6–8% of children, globally. Currently, the most effective strategy for food allergy management is stringent avoidance of the offending allergen. Unlike other major food allergens, soy is uniquely challenging to avoid due to its prevalen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2021-10, Vol.11 (1), p.20831-20831, Article 20831
Main Authors: Sundhoro, Madanodaya, Agnihotra, Srikanth R., Khan, Nazir D., Barnes, Abigail, BelBruno, Joseph, Mendecki, Lukasz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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639/638/161
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Allergens
Allergens - analysis
Allergies
Electrochemical Techniques - methods
Electrochemistry
Food
Food allergies
Food Analysis - methods
Food Hypersensitivity - etiology
Food Hypersensitivity - prevention & control
Food selection
Glycine max - chemistry
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Immunoassay
Infant formulas
Molecularly Imprinted Polymers - chemistry
multidisciplinary
Polymers
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Tracers
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Summary:Food allergies are estimated to affect about 2–5% of adults and 6–8% of children, globally. Currently, the most effective strategy for food allergy management is stringent avoidance of the offending allergen. Unlike other major food allergens, soy is uniquely challenging to avoid due to its prevalence and insidiousness in a wide variety of foods, such as infant formulas. Recently, we demonstrated a simple, accurate, and consumer-friendly sensor using molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for rapid detection of soy allergenic tracers in complex food matrices at clinically relevant levels. In this work, we build on these findings by subjecting MIP-based soy allergen sensors to test trials in 42 different food products, representing over 300 ingredients. Foods were selected based on their compositional complexity to capture a wide range of preparatory methods and processing conditions. In each case, the Allergy Amulet correctly reported on the presence or absence of soy allergen tracer in investigated samples and were subjected to immunoassay confirmatory analysis. The outcome of this research will help resolve persistent difficulties with commercial technologies in detecting allergenic tracers with minimal cross-interference in foods, and will give those with soy allergies the ability to easily, rapidly, and accurately identify and avoid foods with soy allergens.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-00241-6