FOOD SAFETY SUPPLEMENT: RAPID METHODS 03 Rudolf Krska & Kurt Brunner


Center for Analytical Chemistry, Department for


Agrobiotechnology (IFA-Tulln), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna University of Technology


Terry Koerner


Food Research Division, Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Directorate, Health Canada


Rapid methodsfor food safety


Due to legislative requirements for increased monitoring of the food supply, there is an increased need for rapid screening methodologies for both large and small molecules. However, rapid testing in food analysis will mean different things to each analyst and will depend upon individual viewpoints and expectations. In some instances, the actual analysis step is very quick and a large number of analyses can be obtained in a short amount of time, while other methods save considerable amounts of time in preparing samples.


More and more, rapid testing methodologies are being developed that push the boundaries of both sample preparation and analysis time to obtain results in a short period of time. The most common rapid assay formats, the immuno - assays, are based on the interaction between e.g. some food contaminant of interest and


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an antibody that was developed against this analyte. For the detection and quantification of microorganisms in food, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and quantitative PCR have become the methods of choice. This article focuses on the recent developments and applications of these methods for the


determination of allergenic proteins and mycotoxins and of mycotoxin producing fungi, respectively. Mycotoxins have to be monitored as they are toxic natural secondary metabolites of fungi which can cause food and feed-borne intoxication. The occurrence of allergens in food is another important topic in the area of food safety, with the objective to verify e.g. the correctness of the food labelling information.


Immunoassays There has been a significant advancement in methods that exploit this analyte antibody interaction including immunological methods such as biosensors and microarrays1,2


, but these New Food Volume 14, Issue 5, 2011


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