In a restaurant, how do you know if a dish contains gluten? Can we really trust the words ” gluten free “(Or” gluten free “) affixed to certain industrial products? Not so sure…
For people who suffer from celiac disease (or CD), this uncertainty represents a real danger. Indeed, in the event of ingestion of gluten, their immune system overreacts and begins to destroy the lining of thesmall intestine (the villi, in particular), which can eventually cause difficulties in assimilating nutrients. In short, it is impossible to remain in doubt when going to eat at a restaurant … or with friends.
To solve this problem, a start-up in California (in the United States) has invented a strange machine, called NIMA: this small device (which looks like a tube for cigarettes) is able to detect the presence of gluten in the feed with an accuracy of 20 ppm. This means that NIMA is able to spot 20 mg of gluten in 1 kg of food: formidable!
“You are playing Russian roulette”
“When you are gluten intolerant and you go to dinner with friends or a restaurant, you are playing Russian roulette,” explains Shireen Yates, one of the creators. Contamination is always possible. “
How it works ? To use NIMA, just slide a small ball of food into the machine. This will then cause contact between specific artificial antibodies and the sample. Two minutes later, the screen displays the result: a happy smiley face if no trace of gluten has been detected, an ear of wheat otherwise.
The creators of NIMA are considering its marketing in 2017, at a price of $ 199, or about 178 € (anyway!). Another negative point: to be sure that there is no trace of gluten on our entire plate, will it be necessary to pass it entirely to the detector, in the form of mini-balls? To be continued …
To read: Traces of gluten in probiotics.
