Immunoassays for Antibiotics in the Food Chain

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The food chain is threatened by various hazards and the presence of residues of antibiotics, used during cattle-breeding, is one of the serious risks for consumers. In food and feed analysis for antibiotics, screening technologies are powerful tools that provide a rapid screen of large numbers of samples when conventional analytical methods are too cumbersome. Due to their simplicity and/or high-throughput capacity, immunoassays are applicable for screening at critical control points in the food chain and in control laboratories. However, in general, they are very specific, and only suitable for the detection of one or two antibiotics, which seriously limits their application. New antibodies and new assay formats with multiplex capacity might give new possibilities for control agencies and food industries for increased and more efficient controls on antibiotics and other food contaminants. Multiplex applications and future perspectives of poly- and monoclonal as well as recombinant antibodies for the compound- or group-specific detection of antibiotics, using different immunoassay formats (e.g. ELISAs, dip sticks, biosensors and flow cytometers), are described and discussed.