Kim H Esbensen, Professor, GEUS   –  “General Principles for Representative Sampling (Theory of Sampling, TOS) – and how to do this in practice”.

At our last meetings in the network we have talked a lot about analysing allergens and about the importance of sampling. Now Kim will bring more insights into “representative sampling”. He will also give us his experience around the topic ”Quality of crops/harvests/bulk food and allergen risks”, how much admixture/contamination of allergen may occur in these commodities?

•are primary producers aware of their responsibilities concerning allergen management and human health?

•are their customers aware of what requirements to ask for?

•which crop grades/qualities do manufacturers buy?

•do manufacturers of e.g. soy protein isolate or concentrates buy lower grades of crop in the false expectation that the end products will become pure enough and ready for use in e.g. health food products?

Kim H Esbensen is a professor and an expert in sampling and co-author of three interesting articles published 2012.

•Representative sampling of large kernel lots, I. Theory of Sampling and variographic analysis 

•Representative sampling of large kernel lots, II. Application to soybean sampling for GMO control 

•Representative sampling of large kernel lots, III. General considerations on sampling heterogeneous foods 

Tatiana Cucu, PhD, Ghent University – ”Analysis to support allergen risk management: which way to go?” 

Tatiana will speak about her work, focusing on the influence of processing and matrix effects on detection of food allergens.

•How reliable are commercial assays when using them in processed foods?

•How do the process, matrix etc. influenza their performance (false pos., false neg.)? 

•What substances can disturb the assays e.g.. fat, spices etc? 

•What is important for the food industry to think about in this matters?

Perhaps there are many ”may contain…” labeling and withdrawal, and vice versa ”out there” based on false, incorrect results from allergen analysis!

Tatiana Cucu  recieved her Ph.D. in 2011 and the title of her thesis was  ”Food allergens – an analytical challenge for the agri-food chain”. 

Anne-Li Karlsson, AllergiKompetens – ”Håller vi oss uppdaterade i vårt nätverk?”

Hur ligger vi till i vårt Födoämnesallerginätverk jämfört med övriga Europa? Rapport från två konferenser: Freseniuskonferensen ”Food Allergens” i Tyskland och Allergistämman i Göteborg.