Food manufacturers are very aware of nut allergens but less aware of other allergen risks, according to the DNA and Protein department of Reading Scientific Services (RSSL)
RSSL's laboratories routinely receive testing enquiries from food producers that do use certain nuts in specific products, as well as from producers that don't use nuts but are aware that cross-contamination can occur at any point of the supply chain.
"Companies are right to take the issue of nuts very seriously," observes Barbara Hirst of RSSL, which uses a range of DNA and protein assays to identify trace amounts of commonly used nuts, such as peanut, walnut, almond, pistachio and hazelnut.
New methods are currently under development for other nut varieties, and RSSL claims to be unique in the range, specificity and sensitivity of its tests for different nuts.
"But having acknowledged the significant risk posed by nuts, the industry must be careful not to miss the significance of other allergens too," says Hirst.
There are 14 allergens named on the EU labelling list, several more that aren't on the list, and for sensitive individuals each one is just as serious as any other.
"For example, individuals sensitive to peanuts are often equally sensitive to lupin.
"It's essential companies have a fully validated HACCP strategy in place to deal with all allergens, and not rely on testing alone to safeguard against cross contamination," says Hirst.
