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Learn More About Nima's New Peanut Sensor

February 27, 2018  |  Allergies, Blog, Food-allergies, Food-allergy-blog, Nima, Peanut
Learn More About Nima's New Peanut Sensor

For the 15 million Americans with food allergies, eating foods they haven’t prepared themselves can be rife with risk. Reactions to peanut vary widely from stomach aches, skin reactions, and in some extreme cases, anaphylaxis. When eating is a gamble, having an extra tool to take the first bite can help remove anxiety from the plate. The Nima Peanut Sensor is a quick and portable device that will test a sample of liquid or solid foods for the presence of peanut proteins that can cause allergic reactions.

The Science Behind Nima

Built on the same technology as the gluten sensor which launched last year, the peanut sensor is being developed to detect 10 parts per million (ppm) of peanut protein or more at 98.8 percent accuracy.

Why 10 ppm?

As peanut does not have an FDA determined limit for “safe” levels in foods, the Nima sensor is set to detect at the lowest part of the range for LOAEL, or lowest-observed-adverse-effect-level (the lowest amount that has been shown to cause an adverse reaction). LOAEL for peanut ranges from 0.25 to 10 mg of protein (FDA/Threshold Working Group: Journal of Food Protection VOl. 71, No. 5, 2008). LOAEL is a safety assessment-based approach, based on clinical data linked to biological effects. You can read Nima’s full report here.

How It Works

The first and only product of its kind on the market today, Nima tests a sample of liquid or solid food on-the-go, using a patent-pending blend of chemistry, electrical, and mechanical design, simplified into three easy steps. Watch how it works.

Step 1: Put some food into the Nima test capsule, which contains proprietary chemistry that looks for the peanut protein. Nima can test liquids and solids.

Step 2: Insert the test capsule into the Nima sensor and start the test.

Step 3: Nima runs a chemistry-based test that takes about three minutes. The sensor will display a peanut icon if the protein is detected, or a smile icon if the sample size has less than 10 ppm of peanut.

Step 4 (optional): Your test results can be shared with the Nima community via the Nima App. You can discover new restaurants or packaged food items from thousands of data points contributed by other members who are avoiding gluten or peanut.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Can Nima detect cross-contamination / cross-contact?

Nima can only test the sample of food you place into a capsule, so Nima can’t guarantee the whole meal. However by following these tips and tricks you can try and get a representative sample of the meal and have an extra data point before eating your food that you would not have otherwise had available. 

2. Can I test my whole plate (multiple items) in one sample?

While you can’t test the entire plate, you can test multiple items in the same capsule. The Nima chemistry is very sensitive, so even just rubbing the food item in the contaminated sauce on a plate can be enough peanut detection.

If you're eating a meal and are suspicious that several food items on your plate might contain peanuts, you can take small samples of everything on your plate and put them into a single capsule. If Nima detects any peanut in the sample, you'll know that something on your plate contains peanuts (even if you don't know what that something is), and you can make a decision from there.

If you're more curious about specific items, or if you're only eating one dish, you can also choose to test one item at a time.

Have more questions about the Nima peanut sensor? You can find all of Nima’s FAQs here.

Availability

The Nima Peanut Sensor is available for pre-order for a limited time at discounted early bird price. Now through March 8, 2018, you can pre-order a Nima Starter Kit – Peanut in the U.S. and Canada on the Nima website. A starter kit includes the sensor, a 12-pack of peanut test capsules, a charging cable, and a carrying pouch. 

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