Agriculture and Food Food Allergen Testing
SGS’s food allergen testing services help you to meet food-labeling requirements and to safeguard the public. As part of your food allergen control program, we can test for the presence of food allergens.
To meet the allergen labeling requirements of your destination market(s), you must be aware of the allergenic ingredients as well as the cross-contamination with allergens that may have occurred. Our comprehensive and independent testing and labeling service covers all of these aspects, at every stage of the food supply chain. We use the proven Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbant Assay (ELISA) testing methodologies to determine the presence of allergens at low levels.
Virtually all of the known food allergens are proteins that can subsist in large quantities and often survive food processing. Although almost any food protein can be allergenic, the European Union’s allergen labeling legislation states that the most likely causes of an allergic reaction are:
- Celery
- Gluten in cereals (e.g. barley, oats, rye, wheat)
- Eggs
- Fish
- Lupin
- Milk and dairy products
- Mollusks (e.g. clams, mussels, oysters, scallops)
- Mustard
- Nuts (e.g. almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pecans, pistachios, walnuts)
- Seafood crustaceans (e.g. crabs, lobsters, prawns)
- Sesame seeds
- Soy
- Sulfur dioxide and sulfites (at levels above 10mg/kg or 10mg/L)
Contact SGS now to discover how our food allergen testing can ensure your regulatory compliance, and help to protect consumers.