Toxin immunosensors and sensor arrays for food quality control

The global efforts to improve consumer protection and public health lead to an increasing number of analytical approaches applicable to food analysis and process control. Biosensor systems are efficient analytical tools to monitor production processes or storage of nutrition and to control contamination outbreaks as they are easy-to-use, fast, and with minimal effort on sample preparation. Relevant targets of immunosensors implemented to food safety are prevalent bacterial toxins (staphylococcal enterotoxins and clostridial toxins), plant toxins (Ricin), mycotoxins (aflatoxins and ochratoxin A), marine toxins, and other pathogenic bacterial contaminations (Listeria, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, or Escherichia coli). These cause acute intoxication and also chronic diseases in humans consuming contaminated food. Promising approaches for the determination of different types of toxins in food matrices will be outlined. The corresponding sensor systems use immunological receptor units such as antibodies or antigens and include optical (fluorescence and surface plasmon resonance), electrochemical, or acoustical readout methods. This review is focused on recent developments of sensor formats devoted to food safety control and is structured according to the type of toxin or contaminant that is recognized. It is intended to give an overview on emerging sensor technologies and their potential applications for the rapid analysis of the most important food poisoning agents.