Portable Device Can Test If Your Food Is Gluten-Free

For people with gluten allergies or celiac disease,

the idea of eating out in restaurants can be

terrifying. It typically involves scrutinizing menus

and food labels, interrogating waiters, or having

to bring their own meals wherever they go.

But now, a discreet new device, small enough to

fit into a pocket or purse, could make eating out

an easier and safer experience for gluten-

sensitive people .

Manufactured by San Francisco-based startup

6SensorLabs, the portable gluten-testing device,

called Nima, can test food for the presence of

gluten , providing results within minutes and

reducing people's food anxiety. The device could

also provide greater social freedom, making

meals more enjoyable, said 6SensorLabs co-

founder and chief technology officer Scott

Sundvor. [8 Top Meals from Nutritionists ]

"A lot of people who have food issues get very

stressed when they're eating out, and they avoid

eating out altogether," Sundvor told Live

Science. "Our product will really enable them to

start going out again and start being more open

in social settings."

An estimated one in 133 Americans, or about 1

percent of the population, is affected by celiac

disease, an inherited autoimmune disease in

which eating gluten can cause severe damage to

the small intestine, according to the organization

Beyond Celiac. There are currently no treatments

or cures for celiac disease — except eating a diet

without any gluten, which is a protein found in

wheat, rye and barley.

Using the Nima device, individuals can make sure

their food is gluten-free by placing a tiny piece of

their meal inside a disposable capsule, twisting

the cap shut and inserting the capsule into the

Nima's main sensor unit. Within 2 to 3 minutes,

Nima will let users know if the food is safe to

eat by displaying a smiley face on the screen if

there is no gluten, or a frown if the result is

positive for the protein, the company said.

The device can test a range of foods, from soups

and sauces to more solid items like baked and

fried goods, Sundvor said. Using a combination

of a chemical and mechanical process, the Nima

grinds down any chunky bits, dissolving the food

in a proprietary blend of enzymes and antibodies

that zero in on any gluten in the mix. And

Sundvor said those antibodies can detect levels

of gluten as low as 20 parts per million, the FDA

limit for the maximum level of gluten considered

acceptable in foods that are labeled gluten-free .

But the Nima itself is not an FDA-approved

device. It is not intended for medical or

diagnostic use, the company said. Instead, the

Nima is marketed as a tool for getting more

information about food when eating out, Sundvor

said.

"We're selling this as a device that can give

another layer of data," Sundvor told Live Science.

"This isn’t something that will help people treat

their disease or diagnose gluten-sensitivity, and

that's why we don't need FDA approval for the

device."

The Nima offers a portable alternative to current

clunky, time-consuming food-testing kits on the

market, Sundvor said. The device is 99.5 percent

accurate, he said. That number is based on

about 2,000 tests comparing the Nima's

sensitivity to gluten in various foods to that of

other consumer gluten tests currently on the

market.

Nima's results have also been validated by two

different external labs : Bia Diagnostics and

BioAssay Systems. And Sundvor said his

company is making sure to get the device tested

even more thoroughly by a third party before

making the sensor available to the public later

this year.

There are still some challenges, though. Most

importantly, the Nima can't guarantee that an

entire meal will be free of gluten, because the

tests only the portion of the meal that users

place in their device, Sundvor said. If there is

gluten in the salad dressing on the side of a

meal, for example, and not in the crusted

Parmesan chicken, the device could give a false

negative if the chicken is the only part of the

meal tested.

The Nima avoids cross-contamination inside the

device itself by using disposable capsules. This

design also allows for potential expansion into

capsules for other allergies later on, with the

development of dairy and peanut allergy-testing

capsules already underway, Sundvor said.

Currently, users can pre-order a starter kit online ,

which consists of the main Nima sensor unit and

three capsules, selling for $199. Refill packs of

12 capsules each will also be available on a

subscription basis for $47.95 during the pre-

sale. Once the device is available, in mid-2016,

the company will also have a Nima app, in which

users can log results and share their experiences

at different restaurants, testing different foods,

Sundvor said.

"This is going to have a really big impact on

people," he added. "It will bring more

transparency to food in general and help people

with their dietary issues."