Food allergens are typically naturally occurring proteins in foods that cause abnormal immune responses. The prevalence of food allergens around the world is believed to be increasing over time. Practically all foods have the capacity to cause an allergic reaction to a person who has become sensitive to the proteins it contains; however, most allergic reactions come from crustaceans, eggs, milk, peanuts, soy, wheat, almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, coconut, hazelnut, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts, and gluten. The West Virginia Department of Agriculture is proposing to add allergen testing to the current testing capabilities of the WVDA Chemistry Laboratories. This will include the purchase of the MagPix System with XPonent 4.2 instrument to conduct the analysis. The instrument is capable of detecting all the most common food allergens listed above. This would significantly increase the overall testing capabilities for the state of West Virginia by adding a completely new technology to our current repertoire. In order to expand these our capabilities, the WVDA will comply with the current WV purchasing guidelines. WVDA staff will specifically aim to write standard operating procedures, order supplies, conduct training, and demonstrate competency through proficiency and operational system checks. After this has been successfully completed, the WVDA will conduct an internal exercise to determine the total number of surge samples that can be tested by one laboratorian in a week using the new technology.
