Did you know that 1 out of 3 “gluten-free” dishes in restaurants actually contain gluten?
It’s true – but before you raise your pitchfork, know that it’s not always their fault.
For example, the waitstaff may be 100% correct that the salad you’re ordering is gluten free… however, the dressing contains gluten. Or, they simply may not be aware that common additives like modified food starch, artificial color, dextrin, ground spices, and natural flavorings contain “hidden gluten”.
These mistakes are more common than you might think, and although most of us won’t notice, for those who have a gluten allergy – or worse, a peanut allergy – this little “whoopsie” can literally make the difference between life and death.
This causes many people to avoid dining out, since they can never be sure – and in the worst cases, they even have to avoid social gatherings because they don’t know what might be served.
But now, thanks to breakthroughs in consumer technology, we have Nima – a portable, instant test for gluten and/or peanut traces in food. It’s here to put an end to ingredient ambiguity – while opening up a whole new world for those with serious food allergies!
What is Nima?
Nima is a series of compact, portable food testing devices – right now they have one device for testing gluten, and one for testing peanuts.
It takes samples of food and analyzes them on the spot, so you can be 100% certain about gluten and peanut traces (or the lack thereof).
To use the device, you simply scoop a pea-sized sample of your food into the disposable testing container and place it in the Nima sensor.
After a few minutes, the device will either smile to give you the all-clear:
Or it will show a “Gluten Found” or “Peanut Found” logo (depending on which device you have) to alert you that it’s found traces of that ingredient:
Now you know what’s in the food in front of you – but here’s where things get even cooler (and more useful).
Community & technology combine to make our lives a little better (once again!)
Not only does Nima allow you to take instant samples of your food for personal awareness, it’s also backed by a community of fellow Nima-users.
Once you get your results back, you can add them to the thousands of Nima community-tested restaurants and packaged foods in the Nima app. You can even see a map of places that have been tested already!
That means that one person’s test can help you when you visit a particular restaurant or try a new recipe (no need to test again – unless you’re suspicious).
What can Nima test?
Nima is popularly used for french fries, pizza, soups, salad dressings, muffins, cookies, cereals, and nutrition bars – however, more than 30,000 tests have been conducted, and the data is stored in the app, so you can rest assured that almost ANYTHING you can think of has already been tested by someone. If not, it’s your turn to contribute to the community’s knowledge!
The ultimate goal for Nima is to empower people with gluten-free and peanut-free diets to live as freely as anyone else does. This first foray is already a hit, and we can only imagine what will come next as more and more people start combining smart technology like Nima with their everyday lives.
Oh, and if you’re still skeptical, then you might like to hear Dewayne’s story:
“I just wanted to say thank you so much for creating Nima, it might have saved my life today. I went to a local pub, checked the allergen menu and from that picked out a meal that was specific peanut free.
I still informed the waitress who then informed the chef but when I tested the meal, it came back positive [for peanut]. I alerted the staff who checked their ingredients and realized there were peanuts in the sauce that they weren’t aware of.
They have now changed their allergen information and checking everything.”
As you can see, this just isn’t about being picky. Nima is a great example of how consumers are gaining control over their experiences – and they can even impact the way businesses serve them.
So, what do you think? Do you trust your restaurant, or would you use Nima regularly? Let us know in the comments below!
If you’re interested in trying Nima, you can find their gluten sensor here and their peanut sensor here.