Neogen Corporation has launched two new assays for the detection of histamine.
What is histamine?
Histamines are the chemicals made by the immune system that help remove allergens. The intention is to keep your body safe, but when these overreact, it can lead to an allergic reaction – hence the use of antihistamines for hayfever.
Some kinds of fish contain naturally high levels of the chemical histidine. This chemical can be converted to histamine by bacteria. Essentially, high levels of histamine may develop in fish species as they decompose, with the ingestion of histamine potentially leading to scombroid poisoning in humans.
Fish which are more prone to cause histamine toxicity include tuna, mackerel, mahi mahi, anchovy, herring, bluefish, amberjack and marlin. Histamines are also heat-resistant so illness can occur even when fish is properly cooked. But histamine can also be present in foods such as cheese or sausage as a consequence of fermentation. If a food product that has a high level of histamine, the response may resemble an allergic reaction.
UK food and histamine regulation
In the UK, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) published a report on histamine in cheese in 2016, following a number of incidents of poisoning. While there is specific legislation regarding histamine levels in fish in Britain, there is currently no legislation covering histamine levels in other foods. The FSA therefore gives advice taking into account data from case reports of histamine poisoning in the literature, and the European Commission’s (EC) action level for histamine in fish (200 mg/kg). The portion sizes for fish and cheese are said to be relatively comparable.
The FSA also includes an acute reference dose (ARfD) for histamine, established by the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) in 2011. For cheese, or other foods, the FSA models various consumption scenarios and compares them to the ARfD to establish the level of risk to the consumer. The agency considers the type of food involved (e.g. cheese type), likely consumers and the expected quantity to be consumed.
The FSA (in line with EFSA 2011), considers the ARfD to be sensible and conservative, i.e. adequately protective as it was based on the responses of healthy and sensitive individuals.
The ARfD was established using data from adult volunteers but there are no comparable data for children. Therefore, the Committee on Toxicity (COT) (2016) scaled the EFSA ARfD for body weight (bw) using an average weight of 78.6kg for an adult (19-64 years) and 14.6kg for a toddler (1.5-3 years).1 This gave an ARfD of 9.3 mg/person/meal for toddlers.
US histamine regulation in fish
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set an action level of 50 parts per billion (ppb) for histamine in domestic and imported fish.
To address the safety concerns around histamines, Neogen has developed Reveal® for Histamine and Reveal Q+ for Histamine.
Reveal and Reveal Q+ assays are lateral flow tests that utilise a simple water extraction method, providing results in a matter of minutes and eliminating the need to dispose of any chemicals.
“These two new tests are an excellent addition to our portfolio of food safety testing solutions, helping keep consumers safe and healthy,” said John Adent, Neogen’s president and CEO. “These rapid tests make it easy for producers and distributors to test for this toxin, backed by Neogen’s reputation for providing accurate and reliable results.”
What can the Neogen histamine assays be used for?
- Reveal for Histamine (PN 9548) is a qualitative lateral flow assay intended for visual screening of histamine at 50ppm in scombroid species of fish, such as tuna and mahi-mahi.
- Reveal Q+ for Histamine (PN 9549) is a quantitative lateral flow assay designed to be read on Neogen’s Raptor® Integrated Analysis Platform. The assay provides quantitative results for histamine in scombroid species of fish and dry animal protein.
References
- Roberts et al., 2018
