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If you have a real gluten allergy, celiac disease, or even if you’re just gluten sensitive, it can be difficult sometimes to ensure if what you’re eating is actually gluten-free.
If you’re buying food for yourself, then it’s become a much less arduous task. But if you’re out at a restaurant or at a special event where gluten sensitivity isn’t as much of a concern, it can be difficult to tell what food is safe for you.
Now, there’s a way to know if there’s really gluten in what you’re eating, no matter where you are.
6SensorLabs in San Francisco set out to develop this product when the two-founders, both gluten sensitive, wanted to be able to tell if there was gluten in something on the go. When restaurants and food manufacturers declined interest, they went to customers, who ate the idea up.
It’s called the Nima. You put a small sample of whatever you’re eating into a one-time-use capsule, then you put the cap on and grind it. The capsule mixes the sample with liquid and helps the food to interact with a test strip, which changes color when it detects gluten. The capsule is placed into the Nima, which reads it and comes up with a happy face (gluten-free) or sad face (contains gluten).
It detects up to 20 parts per million, the standard set by the FDA.
This device says that it’s a good alternative for more traditional at-home tests as well, many of which take several steps and are as accurate or less than the Nima.
The product begins preorder on October 20, and is priced between $179 and $199 until the presale ends, when it goes up to $249.
