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Peanut Allergy, Peanut Allergens, and Methods for the Detection of Peanut Contamination in Food Products
Hsiao-Wei Wen1, Wlodzimierz Borejsza-Wysocki1, Thomas R DeCory1
1Author Wen is with Dept. of Food Science, Natl. I-Lan Univ., 1 Section 1 Shen-Lung Rd., I-Lan, Taiwan 260, ROC. Authors Borejsza-Wysocki and DeCory are with Dept. of Food Science and Technology, Cornell Univ., 630 West North St., Geneva, NY 14456. Author Durst is with Dept. of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Riley-Robb Hall, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY 14853. Direct inquiries to author Durst (E-mail: rad2@cornell.edu).
Abstract:
Attention to peanut allergy has been rising rapidly for the last 5 y, because it accounts for the majority of severe food-related anaphylaxis, it tends to appear early in life, and it usually is not resolved. Low milligram amounts of peanut allergens can induce severe allergic reactions in highly sensitized individuals, and no cure is available for peanut allergy. This review presents updated information on peanut allergy, peanut allergens (Ara h1 to h8), and available methods for detecting peanuts in foods. These methods are based on the detection of either peanut proteins or a specific DNA fragment of peanut allergens. A summary of published methods for detecting peanut in foods is given with a comparison of assay formats, target analyte, and assay sensitivity. Moreover, a summary of the current availability of commercial peanut allergen kits is presented with information about assay format, target analyte, sensitivity, testing time, company/kit name, and AOAC validation.
