Comparative assessment of DNA-based approaches for the quantification of food allergens

•First comparative assessment of DNA-based methods for the quantification of food allergens.•Assurance of comparability by set-up of uniform experimental framework conditions.•Assessment of the methods on the basis of pre-defined and accepted performance criteria.•Demonstration of the suitability of the methods by quantification of sesame in processed model foods. Governments all over the world have implemented regulatory frameworks concerning food allergen labelling and established or discussed the implementation of thresholds. Therefore, quantitative methods are needed for their surveillance. DNA-based approaches using a matrix-adapted calibration, an internal standard material and a modified standard addition have been developed. In order to enable a comparative assessment of the available quantification methods, experimental framework conditions and uniform performance criteria were defined. For the evaluation of the experimental results using homogenous sample material, the recovery, repeatability and reproducibility were considered along with the limit of detection and the limit of quantification. In addition, muffin dough and muffins spiked with sesame were analysed to assess the suitability of the methods to quantify sesame in model foods. The modified standard addition emerged from the comparative assessment and the analysis of the model foods to be the most appropriate method to quantify traces of allergens in food.