Food additives

Special case: Food additives and colouring agents

The allergy testing for food additives is not performed using the LTT, because the basophile degranulation test (BDT) has been established as the more appropriate method.

The Profile for Food Additives includes:

  • Food colouring agents mixture I
    (amaranth, azorubine, quinoline yellow, cochineal red A, yellow-orange
  • Food colouring agents mixture II
    (erythrosine, patent blue, indigo carmine, brilliant black)
  • Food additives I
    (tartrazine, sodium benzoate, sodium nitrite, potassium metabisulphite, sodium salicylate)
  • Food additives II
    (iron oxide, benzoic acid, glutamate, propyl-p-hydroxybenzoate)

If the group screening yields a positive result, the substances contained in the group can then be individually tested, as with the LTT. However, this requires a new blood sample! If a particular substance is suspected, individual testing can be performed first (e.g., glutamate with suspected Chinese food syndrome).







What material is required for blood collection?

Required are 4 mL fresh EDTA or 10 mL heparin blood.