A Taste of Wellness for Savoury and Snacks
Givaudan
As pressure on food manufacturers continues with regards to food allergen labelling, research companies are coming up with new techniques to test for a variety of allergens. In the UK, Reading Scientific Services announced this week that it has added more nut varieties to its recently developed testing method for potential nut allergens.
The company reports that it has formulated a DNA based testing methods that can detect and differentiate trace amounts of peanuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds and Macademia nuts in all kinds of foods. The new development builds on previous research announced in February last year, adding more nuts to the testing portfolio.
"As far as we know, no other lab can use DNA to identify the range of nutsthat we can," said Dr Andrew Tingey, Head of molecular biology at RSSL. "DNAmethods complement our existing ELISA technology and broadens the range of nuts we can detect."
The company further claims to have been the first lab to develop a commercial testing service for GM ingredients, and has progressively added techniques such as meat speciation, fish speciation and animal paternity testing to its portfolio.