Fish Detection Test Under Development

Filed in archive Food Allergies on June 30, 2009

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A food scientist from The Florida State University has received a grant to develop a test kit to detect fish allergens in food products. She was given a three-year, $280,000 award from the United States Department of Agriculture to design an assay to detect fish allergens, which cause allergic reactions in more than 6 million people each year in the United States alone.

"In 2004, the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCP) called for mandatory labeling of the eight major allergenic foods by January 2006, but while methods have been developed to detect the presence of shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, cow's milk and egg, currently there's still no way to test for fish proteins in food materials," Hsieh said.

"With the increase in the production and consumption of seafood in recent years, more consumers with fish allergies are at risk of serious reactions or even death than ever before due to mislabeled or undeclared fish byproducts," she said. "My USDA grant will enable me to develop a convenient and reliable tool to enforce FALCPA and protect those consumers."

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