Download PP076 Allergenicity assessment strategy for novel food proteins and

PP076
Allergenicity assessment strategy for novel food proteins and protein sources
Kitty Verhoeckx1, Henrike Broekman2, André Knulst2, Geert Houben1
1
The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Zeist, the Netherlands; 2UMC Utrecht, the
Netherlands
Aim: Development of an allergenicity assessment strategy for novel proteins and protein sources.
Methods: Previously published literature on allergenicity risk assessment, EFSA opinions on novel foods and the
use of the “weight-of-evidence approach” for food derived from GM plants were consulted.
Results: A new conceptual strategy is developed for assessing the allergenicity of novel proteins (Figure 1).
Discussion: Allergenicity risk assessment might pose some major difficulties in case of approval of novel foods on
the food market, since detailed guidance on how to assess the allergenic potential of novel foods is not
available. At present, the approach relies mostly on the guidance of allergenicity assessment for genetically
modified (GM) plant foods. However this guidance is difficult to interpret, not completely applicable or validated
for novel foods and therefore needs some adjustments. The allergenicity assessment strategy must address
cross reactivity with known allergens and sensitising potency of the novel protein.
Conclusion: The proposed strategy gives more guidance on how to assess the allergenicity of novel food
proteins and protein sources, as was previously shown for mealworm proteins (Broekman et al).
Figure 1: Schematic overview of a new allergenicity assessment strategy of novel proteins
and protein containing sources (Verhoeckx et al).
References:
1
Verhoeckx K, Broekman H, Knulst A, Houben G, Allergenicity assessment strategy for novel food proteins and protein sources,
Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2016 Mar 21. E-pub.
2
Broekman H, Verhoeckx KC, den Hartog Jager CF, Kruizinga AG, Pronk-Kleinjan M, Remington BC, Bruijnzeel-Koomen CA, Houben
GF, Knulst AC. Majority of shrimp-allergic patients are allergic to mealworm, J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2016 Apr;137(4):1261-3.
POSTER SESSION 2: Management of food allergy