Recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) can be used to increase milk production in dairy cows. However,  the use of this hormone is forbidden in the European Union. To be able to detect possible abuse of rbST, antibodies that are produced by the cow upon injection of the hormone can be measured in serum and milk of the cow.

RIKILT Wageningen University & Research has developed analytical methods to detect allergens in different food matrices. Methods include antibody-based assays for easy, fast, sensitive and affordable pre-screening as well as highly sophisticated instrumental analysis methods to confirm the presence of allergens in suspect samples by unequivocal identification of the allergenic peptides or proteins. The confirmative method has been developed in collaboration with AB SCIEX and is validated for milk in cake flour. This method can easily be extended to cover other allergens, such as egg, peanut, soy and tree nuts, and/or different food matrices.

These scanners are made for analysing foods on chemical composition, freshness and other product characteristics. The result of the scan is visible in a few seconds on a smartphone or tablet. For instance the fat and protein contents and calorific value. But also attributes like organic production or the shelf life of products may be checked without opening the packaging.