AOAC INTERNATIONAL (formerly Association of Official Analytical Chemists) is a not-for-profit association founded in 1884 as a forum for microbiological and chemical standard methods used globally to promote trade and to facilitate public health and safety.
A special edition of the Journal of the AOAC INTERNATIONAL on food allergens has been guest edited by Bert Popping and Carmen Diaz-Amigo and contains three papers from the Government Chemist.
Michael Walker, Malcolm Burns and colleagues describe the science behind the ground breaking analysis for allergens by ELISA, molecular biology, and protein mass spectrometry during the investigation of the almond and mahaleb incidents in 2015. Michael and co-authors Hazel Gowland and John Points discuss managing food allergens in the UK retail supply chain in a second paper. Milena Quaglia, Kate Groves and Adam Cryar assess recovery of food allergens from solid processed matrices applying SI (International System of Units)-traceable quantified milk protein solutions and a novel extraction method in a third paper.
The special edition spans the globe with contributions from five continents on topics as diverse as food allergen labelling and regulation, quantitative ELISA, targeted and novel mass spectrometry approaches to allergen analysis and analytical devices for use by consumers.
The edition is open access and available on the J AOAC International website.