3M has acquired Elution Technologies, a Vermont-based manufacturer of test kits that enable food and beverage companies to help ensure their products are free from potentially harmful allergens, such as peanuts, soy or milk.

“Elution Technologies’ test kits offer proven technology with an easy-to-use design that delivers fast and accurate results for companies offering peanut-free, gluten-free and other specialized foods for people with certain sensitivities and allergies,” said Polly Foss, general manager, 3M Food Safety. “We are pleased to add this technology to our broader food safety offering, and extend these important solutions to food processing companies across the globe.”

Testing for potentially harmful allergens has become increasingly important to food and beverage processors and their customers. According to a 2011 study in the Journal of Clinical Immunology, every three minutes someone is the U.S. is rushed to an emergency room due to harmful and sometimes deadly allergic reactions to substances in food, and in some cases those substances were never intended to be in the products.

Elution Technologies was founded in 2012 by Bia Diagnostics and Immunology Consultants Laboratory. Since that time, the company has developed one of the broadest offerings of allergen tests available to the industry. The acquisition adds more than 30 allergen-specific lateral-flow and ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test kits – proven to perform on food as well as environmental samples – to 3M Food Safety’s existing total protein tests.