RIKILT - Institute for Food Safety and the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Colloid Science, both part of Wageningen UR, have developed a new, real-time test to detect antibiotics in the food chain. With the test, different antibiotics can be quickly and simultaneously detected in food.
The large-scale use of antibiotics, especially with livestock, is a serious risk for consumers. This is hazardous not only due to increasing antibiotic resistance, but also because residues of antibiotics can appear in food. Consequently, there is a great need in the food industry for measurement methods that can simultaneously detect the presence of different antibiotics. In previously developed methods, simultaneous, real-time measurement of different antibiotics was not yet possible.
The new method has changed this situation. The test is based on antibiotics binding to so-called spots (binding proteins) of various antibodies on a sensor chip. The measurement can take place in real time, it is automated, and the method has a large capacity. At present, seven “model” antibiotics can be measured in approximately 15 minutes. The method uses the legal standards for antibiotics in food and is suitable for use on location.
In addition to simultaneously measuring various antibiotics, the method can also be made suitable for detecting other substances. As a result, a "complete" picture of a food can be obtained with a single measurement. This biosensor is therefore an important contribution to the development of a new generation of analytical technologies which can be used to measure food safety more quickly, at lower cost and more completely.
Note to the editor:
For more information about this press release, please contact Jeannette Leenders, jeannette.leenders@wur.nl.
RIKILT – Institute for Food Safety is part of Wageningen University & Research Centre.