2012 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416): Develop and improve immunoassays for detection of peanut and/or tree nut, and soy allergen residues before and after processing (i.e. roasting, baking into cookies, etc). 1b.Approach (from AD-416): Either subject various products containing peanuts, tree nuts, soy proteins, or the nuts themselves to different processes, or acquire existing marketed products and optimize methods to: • Extract allergenic food proteins with the highest efficiency to enable detection. • Develop antibodies against the various processed forms of the allergenic foods. • Utilize antibodies to develop various immunological detection methods. • Assure that the antibodies do not cross-react with other foods, and to characterize cross-reactivity if they do. 3.Progress Report: The development of specific and sensitive immunochemical methods for the detection of allergenic food residues, remains a critical need for the food industry and regulatory agencies. The Food Allergy Research and Resource Program at the University of Nebraska has developed specific immunoassays for the detection of allergenic residues of pistachio and cashew in processed foods. This project has also:. 1)estimated population thresholds for peanut using statistical dose-distribution modeling from existing clinical data from peanut-allergic individuals;. 2)used the dose-distribution modeling for peanut thresholds and risk assessment software to analyze the risk of reaction from food products containing advisory labeling; and. 3)Developed challenge materials that will adequately mask select allergenic foods, a milestone that is partially met only because it involves continuous improvement of the materials that are being developed.