Things might be about to get a little bit easier for those with coeliac disease with a new device that works as a portable food tester…
The new portable device is called ‘Nima‘ and it works by scanning a sample of your food for 2 minutes before determining if it’s gluten-free, or not. That means if you want to know whether the restaurant meal in front of you is really safe to eat, Nima will be able to quickly test the food, and tell you whether it’s safe for consumption by lighting up with a smile symbol. If your food doesn’t pass the test and doesn’t meet the FDA’s gluten-free standard, the Nima will light up with a frowny face. Simple!
But how does it work? Before you help yourself to a dish, you simple pop a sample from your plate into one of the device’s disposable capsules. Then, you put the capsule into the electronic sensor, where Nima extracts the protein, binds it with an antibody, and reads the concentration through the sensor. Nima will also sync with an iPhone app, which will record the foods you test and where you test them, ultimately letting you view data from other users all over the map.
Nima’s creators, Shireen Yates and Scott Sundvor, are not stopping with gluten though, and are currently working on devices that can scan for other allergies such as peanut and dairy, which they are hoping to debut in 2017.
“Really, the whole inspiration is around helping people enjoy mealtime and being able to be social and celebrate eating without being super stressed-out,” says Shireen.
If you think this device is the answer to all your gluten-free problems, as of this writing, the pre-orders are going for $199.
For more information, please visit www.nimasensor.com. You can also keep up to date with developments on Facebook and Twitter.