Targeted Proteomics for the Detection of Food Allergens and Food Authentication
Jens Brockmeyer,
Senior Scientist,
University of Münster
Food fraud and the contamination with food allergens are still major concerns for consumers and the food industry. It is estimated that up to 150 mio people suffer from food allergy worldwide and the estimated economic damage of one the largest food fraud incidents, the European horse meat scandal in 2013, was several billion Euro.
Analytical strategies to tackle these problems are required and we present here the use of targeted proteomics as a novel tool for food authentication and allergen detection. The identification of specific marker peptides using high-resolution mass spectrometry forms the basis for this analytical approach. For routine applications, the detection of identified marker peptides can be transferred on Ion trap and triple-quadrupole instruments with excellent specificity and sensitivity. Using this approach, the parallel identification of 9 different mammalian species with limits of detection (LOD) down to 0.05 % was possible. Similarly, allergenic proteins from six different nuts were detected with excellent LOd down to sub-ppm levels using the MRM3 approach.
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