Celiac sufferer Torrey Freeman says it happens all the time. She orders food she is told is gluten free, but still ends up getting sick.
“Just going on someone’s word is really scary,” she says.
Now whenever she eats out she carries a device designed to test for gluten called a NIMA Sensor. She says, “Having this sensor gives me that peace of mind when I test the food.”
There are gluten testing kits on the market, too.
If airborne allergens are more your concern, the TZOA “Enviro-Tracker” measures air quality to help you avoid pollution.
There’s also a prototype for an Allergy Amulet, slated to hit the market next year. It will use a disposable test strip to test for traces of peanuts, tree nuts, and dairy in food.
“Within a minute, it will tell the user if a presence or absence of the allergen is detected,” explains Meg Nohe, the mother of a peanut allergic child who helped develop the Allergy Amulet. “When other people are preparing your food, you don’t know what’s on their hands, you don’t know what countertop it’s touched or you can’t read the labels. So that’s where the Allergy Amulet is going to be a huge benefit.”
The co-founder of the Food Allergy Science Initiative says she sees these devices as promising—but would like to see “real validation studies” to prove their efficacy.
Both Nima Sensor and the Allergy Amulet tell us third party-testing is in the works.
The allergy group also cautions about “cross contamination” issues and possible “human error.”
Meg agrees a tester is only one tool in the safety tool belt. “It’s important for users to think of it as a supplement and not a substitute to what I would say are standard precautionary measures,” she says.
Torrey says she is still careful, but loves her sensor. “To save me from being sick when I’m out with my children and my family,” she says, “is such a wonderful thing!”
The sensors range from a hundred to nearly three-hundred dollars and some require test strips, sold separately.
