Abstract: Biological activity of food allergens comprises both of the allergenic potency, i.e. the capability to elicit an allergicreaction in a sensitized individual, and the allergenic potential, i.e. the risk for sensitizing a hitherto non-allergic individual. Witha growing interest in the development of genetically modified crops there is a need for appropriate approaches to assess theallergenicity of novel food products. Several approaches have been applied to evaluate the allergenic potency, including the invivo procedures of skin prick testing (SPT) and double-blinded placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC), and the in vitromeasures of serological responses with IgE-based techniques and histamine release test (HRT) from effected basophil. No reliablemethods have been yet developed directly to predict the allergenic potential of an imaginable food allergen. To date there has beendeveloped a decision tree strategy proposed by FAO/WHO to the assessment of allergenic potential based upon considerationsof serological identity, examination of sequence homology or structural similarity to known human allergens and the stability ofthe test product in a stimulated gastric fluid. Progress in the assessment and determination to the allergenicity of food allergen isreviewed briefly in this paper.

Key words: food allergen, IgE antibody, allergenicity, histamine