Advances in the Application of Materials in the Fabrication of Lateral Flow Assay-Based Methods for Food Safety Control

Lateral flow assays (LFAs) offer some attractive features that are utilized as portable devices in food safety control. However, these platforms have faced challenges such as low specificity, poor detection ability, providing only semi-quantitative and qualitative results, limiting their practical uses. These challenges may sometimes produce false positive or false negative results, leading to unreliability. To address these challenges, many research groups have focused on improving their analytical performances, incorporating multiplex detection, and applying new strategies for quantitative detection. This review article discusses the application of new materials in fabricating LFAs for food safety control. It also explores the influence of various detection techniques, including optical and electrochemical in fabricating sensing probes for food control. The technology gaps of the portable LFAs, including the creation of high-throughput light sources and detectors for optical and sensitive electrochemical substrates to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, were discussed. By considering the advantages and disadvantages, investors are interested in giving priority to the development of commercial LFA-based platforms for food safety control.