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Top food scientist to
target hidden fish allergens, pork, with new tests Source of
Article: http://www.physorg.com/news165506101.html June 29th, 2009 The odds of contracting mad cow disease from banned or
adulterated bovine protein lurking in raw or processed food for humans or
meat-bone meal for livestock have declined over the past decade. So have the
risks of purchasing fishy imposters billed as red snapper, ground beef that
isn't all cow, or spoiled meat that doesn't look or smell bad … yet. All that consumer protection is thanks in part to improved
food-testing methods -- quicker, more reliable paper-strip field tests and
simpler, more accurate laboratory assays -- developed since the 1990s by food
scientist Yun-Hwa Peggy Hsieh of The Florida State University. Currently,
four assays in commercial use worldwide feature her patented technology. Now, with two recent grants totaling nearly $500,000, Hsieh will
begin work on the development of two new immunoassays for commercial use on
both raw and processed food products. With a three-year, $280,000 award from
the United States Department of Agriculture, she'll design a test to detect
fish allergens, which cause allergic reactions in more than 6 million people
each year in the United States alone. And, with a two-year, $216,000 award
from a division of the Tanaka Kikinzoku Group of Japan, Hsieh will devise a
rapid test to detect traces of pork fat -- good news for more than a billion
Muslims and millions of Jews who adhere to Halal and Kosher dietary laws,
respectively, that forbid pork consumption. "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." Hsieh expects to publish one or two papers per year during the
course of the grant period. She anticipates at least one patent application
for the project once it is completed. "A fast, effective fish allergen immunoassay has the potential
for immediate commercialization," she said. "Currently, two
domestic biotechnology companies, who already have licensed several of our
species-specific tests for food and feed control in heat-processed products,
are marketing immunoassay kits for detection of ingredients in all seven
types of foods listed in the 'Big Eight' except for finfish. Since the FALCP
labeling mandate took effect in 2006, these companies have been eagerly
seeking assays for fish detection, and they have shown strong interest in my
laboratory's research efforts to develop fish-specific ones." Awarded on the heels of her USDA fish-allergens grant, Hsieh's
two-year grant from Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K. of Japan will help to advance
her earlier research on the detection of pork products in food and feed
products. "I previously developed a rapid pork immunoassay that can
sensitively detect any pork muscle in food and feed mixtures regardless of
their processing conditions," Hsieh said. "This assay was
commercialized in 2000 and has been widely used internationally. However,
detection of pork fat remains challenging due to the physiochemical nature of
the fat. Currently available methods all require sophisticated instruments
coupled with complex data analysis procedures for interpreting results. Rapid
field tests of pork or
any other fat are non-existent. "With this grant, I hope to change that, because such tests
are vital to practicing Muslim and Jewish populations," she said. Source: Florida State University (news : web) |
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