Working group | Tasks and objectives |
---|---|
ImpARAS | Building a European network of leading institutes undertaking basic research on food safety, food allergy and allergy risk assessment to strengthen the international competitiveness of the European scientific community on this topic Generating ideas on an improved risk assessment strategy to determine the allergenic potency of (novel) and/or processed proteins Generating ideas for the development of new more predictive tools/methods for allergenicity Disseminate the knowledge acquired to the European food industry leading to the development of novel safe food products and to the European food safety authorities to improve their allergy risk assessment strategies |
WG1 | Review analytical methods used in allergenicity assessment and identify methods relevant for an improved allergenicity assessment Refine appropriate protocols for purification of allergens Identify physicochemical properties of proteins that may affect sensitisation Investigate which proteins (allergenic and non-allergenic) can be used in in vitro and in vivo allergenicity assessment studies |
WG2 | List in vitro methods (or combinations thereof) that can be used to predict the sensitising capacity of a protein Investigate the possibilities of harmonising and validating in vitro models |
WG3 | Identify which (combination of) species, can be used to predict protein allergenicity in humans Identify reliable end-point parameters that can be used to predict for sensitisation Investigate the possibilities of harmonising and validating in vivo models |
WG4 | Identify the gaps in the current allergenicity risk assessment strategy Implementation of WG1-3 findings in an improved risk assessment strategy Involvement of regulatory authorities in the new concept and dissemination among food companies |