Microbial detection, monitoring and identification solutions company Hygiena’s AllerFlow Gluten provides a convenient test for the detection of gluten residues on food processing surfaces.
It is equally effective at detecting gluten in liquid samples, making it ideal for final rinse water samples. This means that the AllerFlow Gluten can be applied to both surfaces and liquid samples and a wider range of food and beverage manufacturers.
AllerFlow Gluten is a test as part of an allergen monitoring programme. It is specific to the gliadin R12 allergenic fraction found in wheat, barley and rye, with no cross reactivity with soy, rice or corn.
AllerFlow combines Hygiena’s snap valve technology for sample collection devices and classical lateral flow technology. The effect is that the user can simply swab, snap and pour the fluid into the sample fill aperture on the cassette.
The result is seen within 10 minutes. A pass is indicated when a single blue line appears at “C” (control), meaning that the sample contains less than 5µg (5ppm) gluten.
If the samples indicate greater than 5ppm gluten, a red line will appear on the cassette indicating a fail. The more intense the colour, the more gluten is present.
For food and beverage processing equipment that has been cleaned-in-place (CIP), it is often difficult to collect a sample using a swab to verify the hygienic status.
Under these circumstances, a representative sample can be obtained from the final rinse water that will have been in contact with internal surfaces.
Laboratory tests and factory trials have shown that AllerFlow Gluten can also be used with 1ml liquid samples without loss of sensitivity, detecting down to 5ppm.
Rinse water samples have been used successfully by food manufacturers and brewers to verify the absence of gluten residues in processing equipment when monitoring the change from beer to cider processing.
AllerFlow Gluten complements other Hygiena tests for allergen control including AllerSnap, a test for verifying allergens removed from surfaces; and SuperSnap, for high-sensitivity ATP testing supporting allergen control.
