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Science in Shorts

An elimination diet followed by re-challenge with particular dietary components is the established method for diagnosing adverse food reactions in dogs but conducting such tests can be challenging. The authors examined the accuracy and practical value of a saliva-based test for canine adverse food reactions and a new commercial ELISA serum test for food specific immunoglobulins. Groups of healthy dogs, cases with diagnosed and controlled adverse food reactions, and patients with allergic dermatitis of unknown origin underwent saliva and blood tests and the results were compared with those from dietary re-challenge tests. There was no clear difference in the number of positive reactions between the allergic and healthy dogs. Hence the saliva test for food specific IgA and IgM and the ELISA serum test for food-specific IgE did not reliably identify adverse food reactions in dogs. Until more data are available, elimination diets will remain the reference standard.