It is estimated that 1–2% of adults and 5–8% of children in the UK have some sort of food allergy – this equates to around 2 million people. Trace quantities of allergens, such as milk, in food processing plants at very low concentrations can trigger an immune response in allergic individuals including, in serious cases, anaphylactic shock.
As a result, where there is a possibility of cross-contamination, food producers are obliged to label products or recall incorrectly labelled products and refund customers, costing millions for businesses. The process is time-consuming, damaging to a company's reputation and expensive but essential to public health.
This is a growing issue for businesses, principally due to the lack of monitoring systems capable of rapid and accurate measurement of allergen levels in foods. Currently, manufacturers must send off samples for testing, meaning production must be halted, and increasing switchover times between products.