Nima is a portable sensor that tests food for gluten.
How many of us celiacs have been terrified of eating out because we just don’t know if our food will be contaminated with gluten? What if someone developed a machine that could test your food before you ate it to determine if there was gluten in it or not? Boy, would that relieve a lot a stress, right?
That machine may be here. 6SensorLabs has just started taking pre-orders for their new Nima gluten sensor. For those unfamiliar with the device, the Nima will allow people to test small samples of foods for the possible presence of gluten.
6SensorLabs, the people who developed the Nima, claim that it can detect instances of cross-contamination “where foods may be cooked in the same oil (for example french fries) or in the same water (such as gluten free pasta being cooked in the same water as wheat-based pasta).”
How does the Nima work?
The Nima gluten sensor is composed of two parts. The main sensor is about 3.0 inches x 3.5 inches and weighs about 3 ounces. That makes it pocket-sized and small enough to take to dinner. The second part is a disposable capsule. If you want to test a sample of food, you simply place the food into the capsule. The capsule is then inserted into the main unit. Within 2 – 3 minutes, the sensor will display a result of positive or negative for gluten.
The device uses a chemical-mechanical process to detect the presence of gluten at a level of at least 20 ppm (parts per million). 20 ppm is the number established by the FDA that allows producers to label their food gluten free.
6SensorLabs claims that the device has been tested and re-tested by their science team. They promise to release validation data on their device in the upcoming months. You can watch a video of the Nima here. Since the Nima is not a medical device, no FDA certification is necessary.
How much does the Nima cost?
The Nima can now be pre-ordered for $199 + $8 shipping for the main sensor. The sensor comes with 3 disposable capsules. The capsules can only be used once. Additional capsules can be purchased for $47.95 for 12 capsules. That means that besides the cost of the sensor, each food test will cost over $4.00.
What the Nima doesn’t do
- Because of the fermentation process used to make beer, the Nima cannot test for gluten in gluten free beer.
- It will not test for gluten in medicines or make-ups. It will only test food samples.
- It will not test for hydrolyzed gluten.
- Finally, and this is very important, 6SensorLabs cautions on their website: “Nima can’t guarantee that your entire meal will be free of a specific allergen.” The reason for this is that the Nima can only test for a specific area of food on the plate. Therefore it is quite possible that Nima may test an area negative for gluten while another area of the plate may actually test positive for gluten. 6SensorLabs concurs with this assessment, “Nima will only be able to provide results for the sample of food you’ve inserted into the device. There may be hot spots that the sensor doesn’t detect because it wasn’t in the sample you used for the test.”
My thoughts on the Nima
The positives
1. I’m encouraged that people in the scientific community are attempting to make the world easier to manage for those with celiac disease.
2. The Nima as a consumer product may benefit someone who must eat out often and is unsure of what is in his or her food.
3. A positive result for gluten would definitely limit the possibility of someone with celiac from getting sick.
The negatives
1. Cross-contamination
Since the Nima can only test a certain portion of food, its use as an identifier of cross-contamination might be severely limited. Suppose some croutons were put on a salad in the kitchen and then removed. If the portion of food tested had not come in contact with the croutons, it would test negative for gluten, but the salad could still contain gluten. Another possible scenario could be a preparer who had flour on his hands or apron and possibly touched the food. If this area was not the one tested with the Nima, the food could still contain gluten but show a negative result. The use of the Nima could therefore create a false sense of security when identifying food.
2. Cost
The cost of the disposable capsules might also be a drawback to some. The cost of the capsules once the pre-order phase is over may cost closer to $5.00. This means every time you test a portion of food, it will add $5.00 to the cost of the meal you’re testing. Some may say it’s worth $5.00 to know you’re safe. True, however, see point #1 above. You may not really know if you’re 100% safe or not. Further, there is also the cost-benefit to consider depending on what food you’re testing. For example, someone may want to know if their $4.00 flourless tort is gluten free. They then use their Nima to find out. The cost of that tort will now be $9.00. Obviously, for some, the cost-benefit may not be worth it.
3. The Practicality of Using the Nima
Will people really use the Nima? Imagine that you are in a restaurant and you are really hungry. You order your food and then wait 20 minutes for it finally to arrive. Then you take out your Nima and test your food. Remember you must remove a sample and put it in a capsule. People around you are curiously wondering what you’re doing. Then the food turns up positive for gluten. It’s inedible. What do you do then? Do you send your dish back and order the same meal? But that one could be risky too. Do you order a different dish and then test that one? This could get complicated, time consuming, and expensive.
4. How Will Restaurants React?
How will the restaurant staff react when the food they assured you was gluten free comes back positive? Will this type of testing devices motivate restaurants to be more or less gluten friendly?
5. False Results
I have not seen in 6SenorLabs literature if the Nima experiences any false positive or negatives. This would be a good thing to know.
Final thoughts
I think it’s a wonderful thing that scientists are working hard to try and make gluten free living easier. However, at this time, I don’t think the Nima is something I would use. The risks and costs simply outweigh the benefits.
When I eat out, I try to make sure I eat at a restaurant that I can trust. I have a list of restaurants that make a point of catering to the gluten free community. These places usually care about the food they offer.
If circumstances force me to eat at a restaurant I’ve never visited before, I make sure I order food that usually cannot be easily contaminated. I use my experience. Is it possible that it may be contaminated? Yes. As Bilbo says in The Lord of the Rings, “It’s a dangerous business going out your door.” The only way to limit the possibility of cross-contamination is by not eating out that much or by not eating out at all.
Ultimately, if eating out is important for you, if the cost of the Nima is no concern, and you want to minimize the risk of being “glutened”, then the Nima may be for you.
I believe in the future this kind of testing device will get cheaper, more efficient, and easier to use. I’ll wait to buy mine until then.
What is your take on the Nima? Would you buy one? We would love to hear from you.
Read this next
Discuss: What meal have you adapted for food allergies? – In this post, I ask readers to share recipes they’ve adapted for food allergies. Several recipes have been shared in the comments.
8 Life Lessons From Gardening – Growing your own food is empowering and liberating. Grow what you like!
5 Essential Steps to Prevent Gluten Cross Contamination In Your Kitchen
How I Overcame My Fear of Going Gluten Free
Gluten Free Living: Battling Cross Contamination
New Study Reveals Almost 20% Of Celiac Children May Not Heal On A Gluten-Free Diet
- How I’m Using Creatine To Get Stronger - February 17, 2022
- How to Set Up a Home Gym: A Look at Our Garage Gym - January 26, 2022
- 65 Years Old And Getting Stronger: How We’re Doing It! - January 20, 2022
- If You’re Over 40 You’re Probably Losing Strength. You Must Deal With It Now! - January 4, 2022
- Get A Good Grip: How Your Hand Grip Strength Predicts Longevity - August 17, 2021
Gluten Free and loving it! says
I’m additionally concerned over the fact that the company has received somewhere around $14M in funding and has been pre-selling the unit for over a year without having produced any products to people. The first time I saw the advertisements, I thought “not for me” simply because of the cons you listed. I prefer to be very diligent in where and what I eat, than to ever blindly trust a little unit like this. I also have concerns about sanitation in the machine itself. Some part of the machine has to come in contact with some part of the food. If gluten is in the sample, how do you sanitize it properly before the next sample? I can’t wrap my head around it being completely self contained with no chance of the unit itself becoming contaminated.
John says
Hi, thanks for commenting. I couldn’t agree more. I’m also very diligent when eating out. Unless something goes really wrong I’m pretty sure everything is GF. Good point on the sanitation issue. I am not sure if the individual capsules negate this problem, though.
Benjamin Richardson says
I am confident that the capsule system eliminates cross-contamination risk of the Nima device itself. I say this because the food sample is inserted into the capsule, capsules are sealed before entry into the device and the capsules are for one-time use only. No part of the device should ever come into contact with the food sample under normal use.
There is a risk of gluten coming into contact with the device if food was left on the outside of the capsule but this is under control of the user.
John says
Hi Benjamin, thank you for your insightful comments. Yes, cross-contamination should be prevented by proper use of the capsules. However, as you said improper use could be a problem. This might be especially true if used by a child.
Joanna Michelle Henderson says
I am undecided. If they could find a way to make the replacements more affordable, then I could see me purchasing this and using on a long term basis.
John says
Hi Joanna,
Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I agree if the replacements were more affordable that might motivate a lot more people consider the Nima. However, I would still be wary of trusting my health to this machine. There are too many variables involved at this point. – John
Brian Golden, MD says
Although there are downsides with any test, Nima is not overly expensive and the refills are much cheaper than the other consumer test GlutenTox, which is currently $70 at Amazon for just 5 tests. That gets expensive, but it has proven useful for my family. I have viewed interviews with Shireen Yates, one of the founders of the company making this thing, and she seems quite genuine. This device or a future iteration could be incorporated by restaurants to help confirm the safety of their GF workflow. Finally, I feel good about supporting a company that has the potential to improve the life of my celiac daughter in the future.
Barbara says
Hello Dr. Golden, Thank you for stopping by and thank you for your comments.
Val says
I am wondering why I have not been sent a Nima. I signed up for the pre sale. I do have Celiac Disease and travel quite a bit far r my work. Please let me know how I can secure one.
John says
Hi Val,
I’m not sure if they’ve been shipped yet. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.
Michelle says
There is some excitement for me, as the parent of a child with Celiac Disease who also has special needs, this could be very helpful. Understanding her speech can be an issue and unfortunately we have had times where she has asked if something was gluten free, they have not really understood her and said yes. Hence an evening of a violently ill child. Giving her a tool like this would really be useful. It is expensive especially with the vials but we’ll wait and see. I’m not buying until they are actually on the market.
John says
Hi, Michelle. Yes, the vials do seem pricey. I hope you have success with it when it comes out.
Kim says
The sensor won’t work for soy sauce. That puts Asian food out of the question, and a lot of places use soy sauce for seasoning where you don’t expect it: Peruvian chicken comes to mind. I did preorder one, but once I found that it wouldn’t test soy or medicines, and after they’d had my money for eight months and kept pushing back the date they would be shipping, I asked for a refund. Which they promptly did, very nicely. Usually if you preorder something, a company will charge you when it’s shipped. Nima charges when you order. Also, they insist customers to sign up for automatic delivery plan on the capsules, or the capsules are (considerably) more expensive. Supposedly they’re shipping now, in the order they received preorders, but I’m kind of doubtful about this. I haven’t seen any comments on anybody actually receiving one. First it was going to ship in the Spring, then Summer, now Fall. I hoped to test things like supplements or vitamins at home, for instance, when I sometimes think I’m getting cross contamination and I’m trying to figure out what it might be, but it’s not supposed to work for that, either. Maybe it will be great, but although I was excited about this coming to the market enough to preorder, I cancelled. I think this device is probably too good to be true in the practical sense, and it would probably be better to wait till it comes out and see how it’s working out for people before taking the plunge.
John says
Hi, Kim. Thank you for your insightful comments. I’m kind of dubious on how practical the device will actually be. The future will tell.
Jac says
I think this would be great for travel, when language, and a general lack of knowledge about Celiac Disease, are huge factors.
Tobias Weinberg says
For a actual celiac, as apposed to someone going gluten free for other health issues, using this device is comparable to playing Russian roulette. Consider the most usual cross-contamination scenario – crumbs left on a food preparation area, or food prep machine or packaging equipment. The crumbs are scattered in the food. No way are they uniformly distributed. So think about the likelihood that the sample you test actually contains a crumb.
If you are like me and you get really sick for a long time (months before my immune system settles down) from even crumb level contamination then relying on this machine is just plain stupid.
I actually heard about this or a similar device years ago from a friend at MIT when it was under development (got a grant for making products from research) and wrote them a careful analyses of why this device was a positive danger to celiacs who might rely on it. Of course that was totally ignored and unanswered. Why let the potential for harm to vulnerable people get in the way of profiting from an almost (but not quite good enough) idea?
Sean Bergin says
Many thanks for writing this article. I am a coeliac who suffers badly from any contamination and this device initially had me excited. However, after reading your article and thinking about it a bit I realise that nothing has really changed. There is still the chance of contamination from food residues on a plate or crumbs dropped etc so my only safe option is, as ever, to bring my food with me.
David Lyon says
If your food doesn’t pass the test and doesn’t meet the FDA’s gluten-free standard, the Nima will light up with a frowny face. BIG PROBLEM if your are a Celiac! The FDA guideline is 20 PPM. Certified Gluten Free is 5 PPM. Big difference. My own personal experience is that I cannot tolerate GF labeld food under FDA guidelines!
David Lyon says
If your food doesn’t pass the test and doesn’t meet the FDA’s gluten-free standard, the Nima will light up with a frowny face. BIG PROBLEM if your are a Celiac! The FDA guideline is 20 PPM. Certified Gluten Free is 5 PPM. Big difference. My own personal experience is that I cannot tolerate GF labeld food under FDA guidelines!
John says
Excellent point David. This is a major concern along with others.