title: Influence of baking time and matrix effects on the detection of milk allergens in cookie model food system by ELISA.
abstract: Milk allergens are common allergens occurring in foods, therefore raising concern in allergic consumers. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is, to date, the method of choice for the detection of food allergens by the food industry although, the performance of ELISA might be compromised when severe food processing techniques are applied to allergen-containing foods. In this paper we investigated the influence of baking time on the detection of milk allergens by using commercial ELISA kits. Baked cookies were chosen as a model food system and experiments were set up to study the impact of spiking a matrix food either before, or after the baking process. Results revealed clear analytical differences between both spiking methods, which stress the importance of choosing appropriate spiking methodologies for method validation purposes. Finally, since the narrow dynamic range of quantification of ELISA implies that dilution of samples is required, the impact of sample dilution on the quantitative results was investigated. All parameters investigated were shown to impact milk allergen detection by means of ELISA.
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Retieseweg 111, B-2400 Geel, Belgium; CNR, Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy. Electronic address: linda.monaci@ispa.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Monaci
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brohée
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tregoat
authors.forename: Arjon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Hengel