Patent ID: 6884625

Claim:
A method for detecting in a stool specimen of an individual the presence of antibodies which bind to a food antigen, thereby indicating the presence of a food allergy in the individual, the method comprising: (a) obtaining the stool specimen from the individual; (b) diluting the stool specimen with a diluting liquid in a vessel for mixing a stool specimen with a diluting liquid to produce a diluted stool specimen; (c) introducing the diluted stool specimen into a housing, separate from said vessel, holding within a substrate, the substrate comprising at least one zone containing food antigens, the housing further comprising reagents for producing a visually detected reaction when an antibody-food antigen complex is formed, the housing further comprising at least one conveyor device for receiving the diluted stool specimen and transferring it to the food-antigen containing zone of the substrate, the housing further comprising an indicator for showing the presence of the visually detected reaction; and (d) viewing the indicator, the presence of a visually detected reaction in the indicator, indicating the presence of the food allergy in the individual.