The issue of allergens has been one of the hotspots and focuses of international attention in food safety and hygiene in recent years. Food allergy is also called food allergic reaction or digestive system allergic reaction, allergic gastroenteritis, etc. It is a IgE-mediated and non-IgE-mediated immune reaction caused by certain foods or food additives, etc., resulting in a allergic reaction within the digestive system or a systemic allergic reaction. Food allergens refer to components in allergen food that can cause food allergic reactions. Food allergens are generally proteins or glycoproteins with a relative molecular mass of 10,000 to 70,000. These allergens are difficult to remove by heating or digesting. At present, a study has confirmed that nearly 200 kinds of food may cause adverse reactions in people with allergies. Among them, the allergens that cause more than 90% of food allergies are milk, wheat (gluten), soybeans and peanuts, nuts, fish, etc.

In 2009, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China promulgated the national standard Allergen Component in Prepackaged Food (GB/T23779). The allergen ingredients of prepackaged food are stipulated and 8 kinds of food allergens recommended to be identified such as the grain containing gluten, crustaceans, fish, eggs, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts and their products are listed in the standard;

In November 2018, the Review Committee of National Food Safety Standard issued a letter of soliciting comments on the revised draft of GB 7718-2011 National Food Safety Standard - General Rules for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods (exposure draft) to solicite comments in the industry, and change recommended clauses on the labeling requirements for directly using allergenic ingredients in production and processing into mandatory clauses in the new version of the exposure draft.

Since food allergens are difficult to identify through the senses after being processed, food manufacturers may also use raw materials containing these allergens without knowning them before, causing enterprises to suffer losses due to unqualified allergen labeling in import and export trade. Therefore, allergen testing is an effective method to monitor allergens in food raw materials and finished products. At present, PCR and immunological methods are mainly adopted for food allergen detection, using DNA and protein as allergen markers respectively.

The Molecular Biology Laboratory under the Food and Agriculture Division of the Ti Testing and Certification Group can provide corporate customers with allergen component screening services, related technical consultations and training services for production raw materials, final products and processing. The testing standards and testing scope are as follows:

1. Specialized in nucleic acid-based molecular biology technology (such as PCR) and protein molecular structure-based immunoassay technology;

2. Professional molecular biology laboratory and testing team;

3. The laboratory has CMA and CNAS qualifications，can issue test reports with international credibility.