Novel Approaches for the MS-Based Detection of Food Allergens: High Resolution, MS³, and Beyond

The prevalence of allergic reactions to food is believed to be increasing in industrialized countries worldwide. One of the major tasks in risk management is, therefore, the analytical surveillance of allergen contamination in food and targeted proteomics using MS, which is of hugely growing interest due to its specificity and sensitivity and the possibility to analyze multiple allergens in parallel. Though approximately 200 different foods have been described as having the potential to elicit allergic reactions, current regional labeling requirements are focused on the 5-14 priority allergens that elicit the vast majority of severe reactions or that pose a risk as hidden allergens in food production. MS-based detection methods have been published for the majority of priority allergens, and this review provides an overview of the different methodological approaches, namely multiple-reaction monitoring-, high-resolution MS-, and triple-stage MS-based methods. In addition, requirements for the identification and validation of specific marker peptides and the influence of thermal processing and structural heterogeneity of allergens are discussed.