A Japanese company, Maruha Nichiro Holdings Inc. has developed a method for easily detecting the presence of crab and shrimp in foods.

The ELISA based test looks for the presence of tropomyosin, a shellfish protein that causes food allergies. The test can detect concentrations as low as 1 part per million. Squid and octopus contain tropomyosin as well, but the test's specificity has been increased so that only shrimp and crab are detected.

The kit will go on sale in April 2008. This coincides with the Japanese Ministry of Health’s plans to require allergen labelling on processed foods containing crab or shrimp.