Nima: The Year in Review

Smiles, sweat and tears sum up 2015 at 6SensorLabs. It’s been an incredible journey to conceptualize and start to manufacture Nima for the masses. No one said it would be easy, but few also said it would be this much fun. Our biggest milestone in 2015 was the launch of our Nima pre-sale - one giant step closer to getting our portable sensor into your hands.

We remain ever grateful for your emails, comments and in-person conversations. We share your keen observations with our entire team - and trust me, it helps us build a better product for you: everything from expanding our FAQs, to helping us develop our next products and creating tools like our etiquette guides and webinar events. There’s no way we could achieve greatness without your input.

Take a look below for our year in review, and get a sneak peek at what’s coming in 2016!

January - March

• Shared our first rounds of food testing
• Tested non-working prototypes to help us finalize the product design you see today
• Attended our first gluten-free and free-from trade shows in San Diego and Austin
• Wrote the first of our team blog posts about our food identities -- our mission is personal for all of us!
• Attended CES, SXSW and MIT Sloan BioInnovations
• Starred in our first office photo shoot

April - June

• Launched NimaSensor.com
• Conducted research at Chez Nima (aka the 6SensorLabs offices) on what people really want to test with Nima
• Hosted seven outstanding interns, beginning in June, one of whom went on a gluten-free french fry hunt
• Selected our manufacturing partners after a careful vetting process
• Saw the first designs for the Nima app
• Displayed Nima at gluten-free and free-from trade shows in Atlanta, Columbus, Minneapolis, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. and with researchers and clinicians at Digestive Disease Week
• Held our first team offsite with an improv class -- and co-founder Scott Sundvor acted like an antibody

July - September

• Held our first webinar about the chemistry behind Nima
• Asked people if they would rather take a pill or test their food and found out more habits of people who avoid milk and peanuts
• Began transfer to manufacture - this is the part where we figure out how well what we’ve designed works when you begin creating millions of units
• Showed off Nima in New York, San Francisco, and New Jersey
• Unveiled an etiquette guide for dining out with Nima
• Conducted in-person testing with units in San Francisco - leading us to make refinements in the product design

October - December

• Nima went on pre-sale!
• CEO & Co-founder Shireen debuted Nima on Fox & Friends with Elizabeth Hasselbeck
• Nima named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2015
• Received an SBIR grant from the NIH for our work on gluten detection
• Won two Stevie Awards for Women in Business
• Selected a packaging vendor and final packaging designs
• Hosted a tech fellow woman, Elizabeth Akinyi Ochola
• Began beta tests of Nima - helping us to make changes to design before final manufacture
• Updated the Nima website
• Extended pre-sale due to high demand

2016: Be on the lookout for...

• Third-party validation of Nima
• More Nima sightings as our team travels the U.S. (first stop: CES in Las Vegas)
• Nima pre-orders shipping out and general availability

"This Column is Gluten-Free": A Response

I used to be someone who never had to worry about food. I could eat anything and didn’t give mealtime a second thought. It’s easy to judge people when you are not plagued by food allergies or sensitivities, like Roger Cohen does in The New York Times. If you are not aware of how food can affect people or what cross contamination is, it seems over the top to watch someone interrogate wait staff about food preparation.

Eight years ago, I started to develop very sharp intestinal pain. I put up with always feeling terrible for three years until I was finally diagnosed with wheat, dairy, egg and soy allergies along with a gluten sensitivity.

Mr. Cohen states that there is a rise in imagined food allergies and intolerances, but it’s not imagined. Food allergies are on the rise among children. Today, food allergies are 50 percent more common among children than 15 years ago.

He also mentioned an increase in celiac disease and generational difference in views towards food. We’ve spoken to thousands of gluten-free consumers who were diagnosed with celiac disease and talk about ailments that their parents or grandparents suffered from all their lives, likely sensitive or intolerant to gluten but never properly diagnosed. Maybe we’re getting better at diagnosing celiac disease rather than imagining it.

The connection between food and mood was the last thing on my mind before my diagnosis, and afterward, mealtime was suddenly laced with hidden threats. I had to retrain myself how to eat.

People with food allergies and sensitivities are playing Russian roulette every time they sit down to a meal. Mealtime is more about anxiety than joy. Let’s take gluten just as an example. Our own study at 6SensorLabs showed that gluten-free consumers are getting sick from unintended gluten contamination one out of every three times they eat outside of the home.

Just 1/200th of a teaspoon of gluten can trigger an autoimmune response for someone who has celiac disease – that’s a microscopic level of gluten. Gluten is poison for an estimated 3 million Americans, causing not just short-term illness but resulting in long-term health repercussions. For others with sensitivities or intolerances, gluten causes discomfort, pain, digestive issues and more.

Mr. Cohen celebrates a restaurant in Italy that says that they don’t serve gluten-free food. I also applaud any restaurant for being up front about what they can and can’t accommodate – knowing what is in our food is the best way to avoid being sick later. The more transparent restaurants are about their menu and ingredients, the safer and healthier we can be when choosing which foods we eat and which restaurants we frequent. While I applaud the restaurant’s transparency, I would, however, encourage them to better understand food restrictions and intolerances to strengthen their brand and customer loyalty. While Mr. Cohen points to narcissism as the motivation that drives dietary preferences and requirements, I see an enlightened population that’s trying to stay happy and healthy through diet, some by necessity and some by choice. People are becoming much more aware of how food affects them and taking proactive measures to better control their diet, and therefore their health.

So, Mr. Cohen can eat pasta “the way la Mamma has always made it,” but the millions of gluten-free folks and I will be over at one of the nearly 4,000 gluten-free restaurants in Italy that better understand the risks we face when dining out.

reThink Food: Going Inside the Future of Food

reThink Food 2016 "Revolutions in Healthcare" panel with Shireen Yates, CEO and co-founder, 6SensorLabs

I spent the last few days reimagining the way we eat, cook, source and love food at reThink Food, a collaboration of the MIT Media Lab and the Culinary Institute of America. The MIT Media lab is a cross-discipline institution that exists to leverage technology to focus on “human adaptability.” The CIA is the leading culinary education program in America. The joined forces of these institutions creates a conference packed with discussions aimed to redesign the future of food, set among magical setting of the CIA in St. Helena, Calif.

We were excited to not only sponsor the event, but I was given the opportunity to sit on a panel discussing the technological advancements that are making strides in healthcare.

Three themes stood out to me throughout the conference:

Transparency leads to trust

In a breakout session, we discussed that 74 percent of consumers want more restaurant transparency, and consumers are also interested in knowing the story behind food. The conference opened with the sharing of a new formula for sharing trust in food and innovation, where trust = discovery, benefits and integrity. Discovery isn't just about new products; it's about developing technologies that advance the food industry. You also need to communicate the benefits of your products for the consumer, from emotional to social benefits. Integrity is gained through heightened transparency - the food and beverage companies that are open to sharing ingredients in their products and provide transparency with distribution will win the trust of consumers.

Winning consumers’ loyalty is important because the most trusted source for product reviews and recommendations comes from other friends and family members.

Understand your supply chain and be upfront about what you do and don’t know

Transparency took on many forms at the conference. Charlie Sweat of Earthbound Farms spoke to the challenge of finding global traceability solutions. He brought up an example of packing apples in Chile and the distribution facility dealt with more than 3,000 different apple farmers, leading to issues with quality control when you have so many involved parties.

Sara Burnett, director of wellness and food policy efforts at Panera, touched on the short-term costs of total transparency, but the long-term benefit that gains consumer trust and shows integrity. On starting the process, the team took a look at everything in the supply chain and found that there were many gaps in their understanding of ingredients and production. They now have very clear ingredient and menu labeling claims.

Food as medicine

"Halo of Health": Consumers respond to the “health halo” of packaging. They are drawn to foods that project health - words like protein, fruits and veggie servings, unprocessed, free-from, natural, nutritious.

“Nourishment from the inside out”: Head Chef Cortney Burns of Bar Tartine spoke to the amazing work they do in food preparation at Tartine, trying to make everything from scratch to discover how things are made. When she talks about food, she spoke to food as medicine and how we have to feel food from the inside out and leave every meal totally nourished.

6SensorLabs participated in a panel with two scientists and a doctor, who are each taking a different approach to proactive health through lifestyle and wellness. Shocking fact: 80 percent of chronic disease in America can be prevented through lifestyle (diet and exercise). Food is indeed medicine, and in the next few years we will have much better personalized diets and the tracking of those diets.

We are proud to be part of a movement enabling people with better food data, thereby impacting overall wellness and enjoyment of food. See you all next year!

The Power of Nima: Saving Days of Being Glutened

Since I’ve been able to use our Nima prototype over the past few months to test food for gluten, I’ve been able to save myself from about two weeks of feeling sick. In other words, Nima has saved me a collective 15 days* from the health repercussions from unintentionally eating gluten. Every time I accidentally eat gluten, it takes me about five days to recover, which means missed days of work, pain and discomfort. If you can’t relate to the stress of living with a sensitivity to food (from the perspective of someone with celiac disease and the pains of avoiding gluten), you should read this.

In the last few months, here’s where Nima has come to the rescue for me, letting me know when there was gluten in my meal, when I otherwise would have eaten it. Note: everything I tested was labeled gluten-free on the menu or by the chef.

"Gluten-free" cupcakes

Cupcake at a catered event: I was going to eat a gluten-free labeled cupcake at our office when my team reminded me to test it with Nima! We took a sample and tested it, and it came back positive for gluten. We sent the sample to the lab to validate the results, and sure enough it came back as 80ppm of gluten - well over the recommended 20 ppm.

Saved = 5 days

Egg rolls at a catered event: We catered an event in NY and tested all the food before to find that the “gluten-free” egg rolls showed positive for gluten (after three tests on three different samples of the plate).

Saved = 5 days

Pancake at a restaurant: I was out at a restaurant about to dish into a gluten-free labeled pancake and the sample of food came back positive for gluten.

Saved = 5 days

Total = 15 days

Here are a few highlights of what I’ve also been able to test and enjoy!

Arepa at a restaurant: Eating out at Pica Pica I tested and enjoyed both the arepas and empanadas. They were deliciously gluten-free

Vegetarian quiche at a conference: I ate at an event and tested the corn-based quiche, and I loved seeing the smiley face because I was famished.

Rice pancake at a restaurant: I tested the rice pancake at a restaurant, which was gluten-free!

Curry soup at a wedding: Nima made a formal debut at my good friends’ wedding. There was another gluten-sensitive wedding goer, and we were able to test the curry soup, and it was all gluten-free!

Nima processing gluten-free curry soup

I love having my Nima in my back pocket as an extra safety measure when out and about!

*Of course, these are just fun estimations, but aligned with my experience with being glutened in the past, but everyone reacts to different levels of gluten.

Pre-sale Now Open for Nima at Super Early Bird Price of $179

Starting now, you can officially pre-order Nima at the discounted super early bird price as an early supporter! This rate of $179, a discount of $70 from the retail price of $249, will be available until Sunday, Oct. 25 at midnight PT. After that time, Nima will be available for $199 for any remaining quantities of starter kits until we sell out.

The sale has two options. You can purchase just a Nima starter kit, which includes the sensor, three disposable test capsules, a charging cable and a carrying bag, or the Nima starter kit plus your first refill pack of 12 disposable test capsules.

The 12-pack of capsules is available for $47.95 during the pre-sale, a 20% discount that will only be available in the future for those who subscribe to auto-delivery. (Single-order refills will be $59.95 in the future.) Full details here on how refills work.

You will be among the first to receive your device next year, when we begin shipping in mid-2016. We will only be shipping to addresses within the 50 U.S. states at this time.

Please note, quantities are limited for pre-order, and once these sell out, you will have to wait until 2016 to order your device.

So don't wait: pre-order yours today!

For more info on Nima, read here.

Mark Your Calendars! Nima available for pre-orders October 20

We could not be more excited to share that our highly anticipated portable sensor, Nima, will be available in the U.S. for limited pre-orders starting Tuesday, Oct. 20.

Nima is a discreet device that allows you to test samples of food for unwanted ingredients in about two minutes, starting with gluten.

People who have food sensitivities, myself included, are always worrying if food is safe to eat, especially outside the home and in social settings. This anxiety often dominates our lives and restricts not only the foods we eat, but our activities as well. Nima alleviates the stress around unknown ingredients by providing more data about our food, delivers social freedom and makes mealtime enjoyable again.

The first product of its kind on the market today, Nima is:

• Discreet: Nima is a handheld device that fits in a pocket or purse for testing on-the-go. Its size also makes it inconspicuous when dining out or in social situations.
• Easy to use: The chemistry and hardware components of Nima work hard so consumers don’t have to. In three easy steps, users can sample their food and test it for gluten.
  • Step 1 - Place some food into the disposable capsule and screw on the cap.
  • Step 2 - Insert capsule into the device.
  • Step 3 - Press the power button and begin testing.
• Fast: In approximately two minutes, Nima will display the test result.
• Sensitive: Nima will identify if a food has at least 20 parts per million or more of gluten. The U.S. FDA rule for gluten-free labeling requires food to have less than 20 ppm of gluten.
• Social: Nima will offer a community component on smartphones with the ability to share food test results with other users via an iPhone app, coming in 2016. App users can view previous test results before dining out and report new results from their own meals.

Gluten is just the first of many proteins for which we developed Nima. Tests for peanut and dairy are already in the works to be released after gluten.

Pre-sale information

The retail price of a Nima starter kit, which includes the reusable sensor, three disposable test capsules, a charging cable and a carrying pouch, is $249. Starting Tuesday, Oct. 20, Nima will be available for limited pre-orders at a discounted price:

• For the first five days of the pre-sale, a Nima starter kit will be available for $179 until Sunday, Oct. 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
• Starting Monday, Oct. 26, Nima starter kits will be available for $199 until limited quantities are sold out.
• During the pre-sale, additional 12-packs of test capsules will be available for $47.95.

Nima pre-orders will be sold online only on the Nima website starting Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 9 a.m. PT. Nima starter kits will be shipped to customers in mid-2016, followed by the general availability of the device. You can sign up now for a reminder on October 20 by joining our waitlist.

We have updated our FAQs, so please review if you have specific questions about the device or the sale.

The 6SensorLabs team is incredibly excited to have developed this product to bring greater food transparency to all. The emails, comments and stories you have shared inspire us every day. We can’t wait to get Nima into your hands.

Would you rather take a pill or test your food to avoid a gluten reaction?

Would you rather take a pill or test your food before you eat?

Within the next five years, therapeutic advancement will enable the estimated 3 million people in the U.S. with celiac disease to take a pill and protect themselves from the possible allergic reaction from ingesting gluten.

The innovation of a pill to protect people from the ingestion of gluten takes two forms:

• A pill to help with the secondary symptoms of gluten ingestion. There are a few companies racing toward the commercialization of such a pill. Alvine pharmaceuticals is developing a pill that is engineered to degrade gluten when ingested. Alba Therapeutics takes a different approach, developing a pill that addresses the “leaky gut” syndrome by making the gut less permeable by decreasing the space between cells. These pills are currently in clinical trials and expected to be on the market within the next five years. They are targeting symptoms associated with cross-contamination or the accidental ingestion of gluten. They are not meant for people to take for eating large amounts of gluten.

• A pill that allows you to eat large amounts of gluten (like bread and beer). A scientist and inventor in Canada has spent the last 10 years developing a pill that would protect people with celiac disease from the ingestion of gluten. The pill has antibodies that coat the gluten when ingested, preventing the absorption of gluten by the small intestine.

As you may know, at 6SensorLabs we are developing a sensor enabling people to test their food for allergens and food adulterants, beginning with gluten. The sensor, Nima, would allow you to take a sample of food from your plate and know if there is at least 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten in the sample within a few minutes.

With these range of tools coming to market in the next few years, we were curious as to which method would be preferred by folks who avoid gluten. We did a quick survey through our social media channels in the celiac and gluten-free community to better understand their needs.

When asked which of these three tools they would use, out of 62 respondents:

• 82 percent would use a device that tests their food for gluten before they eat
• 48 percent would take a pill before they eat that coats the gluten protein so they can eat anything with gluten in it
• 21 percent would take a pill after they eat that helps relieve secondary symptoms of gluten exposure

Now, our fans on social media might be biased and preferential to our device, but what was impactful for us was learning that a majority of respondents would only use tools that pre-empted eating. Seventy-three percent would use either a device to test food before eating, taking a pill before eating or both. People are looking for extra precautions before eating, instead of just dealing with the results of hidden ingredients. I think even this small poll shows that people will want to use both preventative methods - avoidance of gluten through the use of Nima and proactive measures of taking the pill to still stay safe if gluten snuck in - to avoid triggering a reaction.

We were also surprised that only 6 percent of respondents would only use the pill that essentially gives them a free-for-all at the buffet line, and more than half of respondents wouldn't use the pill at all. No more triple-checking menus and long conversations with waitstaff. No more stress of finding a restaurant you can eat at with others. Sounds like a dream.

But, some of the comments from respondents explained that they were uneasy taking a pill, not knowing if it would help their unique level of sensitivity, or that they still just preferred knowing what was in the food they were going to eat. People who suffer health repercussions from the accidental ingestion of gluten often view gluten as poison. To be able to eat gluten freely without the fear of getting sick seems somewhat out of reach.

What we gleaned from these findings is that the pills developed to help with the accidental ingestion of gluten are another tool in your toolbox for avoiding gluten when eating in unfamiliar environments. These are not meant to change your behavior but rather give you a better layer of protection to maintain a healthy gut.

Whether it’s a pill or food sensor, any solution will need to earn the trust of consumers. These new technologies enable consumers to eat more freely and confidently when avoiding gluten, but not without limitations. It’s an exciting era for gluten-free consumers, and in the next few years there will be an array of solutions available to better enjoy mealtime with more confidence and stay healthy and happy.

If vs. When: The Entrepreneur's Mindset

I attended Collision with Scott last week – an action-packed conference brimming with interesting start-ups, investors, and media relations folks in Downtown Vegas. Paddy is the force behind the global gathering of tech enthusiasts and a force he is – growing the conference from 800 last year to 8000 this year. 6SensorLabs caught up with old friends, classmates, and investors and branched out to meet some really interesting people.

Chatting with investors and entrepreneurs alike, I started to pick-up on an interesting nuance: the use of If vs. When as people discussed start-ups. The investors landed on If. If this wireless technology is created, and created soon, it will massively impact the way we operate. If this algorithm can actually extract all the data from the website in a structured format then the data science implications are incredible. If your portable allergen sensor actually works, then it will be a game-changing concept.

The entrepreneurs were different. It’s not about if. It’s about when. When the team is hired, when the beta units are out, when the presale campaign is a home run, when the product is shipped, when you start to see your product in the wild…

I think about Fitbit. I think about the foam model that transformed into a mass appeal consumer product that’s going public soon. How do you go from foam model to a public company? You are focused on when. The When mentality knocks down barriers that seem insurmountable to anyone on the outside. The “when” mentality can be an obsession. I think it has to be an obsession.

Good investors are in the If mindset during diligence. They should be critical and skeptical. They should look at data to shape their own assumptions and intuition about the team, product, market and product market fit. But, as soon as a dollar is invested, our best investors start talking like the entrepreneurs. They are bought into the singular vision of product realization and help you pave the path to get there.

We are lucky. We have a group of When thinkers invested in this vision and working on Nima. The When is further fueled by the thousands who send us notes of appreciation and encouragement for the work we are doing which will change lives. The When is strengthened by successful product testing, by restaurant dish testing data that validates the need for this product, by the hordes of talented people who want to join the team.

When we get Nima to you, it’s going to change your life. When you are able to know what’s in your food, you will eat with confidence and stay health. When I see a stranger using Nima in a restaurant, I am definitely going to visibly freak out.

Whose Responsibility Is It to Test Your Food for Allergens?

Where does responsibility lie when it comes to the safety and quality of your food?

Someone told me, “I don’t think it should be your responsibility to make sure food is allergen-free. It should be the food manufacturer and the restaurant. We [people with food allergies] already deal with enough crap.”

Every day we feed ourselves. We rip open packages, shovel morsels from our plate, thrust our hands into boxes and simply and effortlessly come into contact with food. Yet for nearly 80 million people in the United States, the process of feeding yourself safely is not that simple. Millions are avoiding certain proteins in foods. For those with gluten allergies, exposure as small as 1/200th of a teaspoon can cause serious health damages. As people become more aware of their dietary constraints and optimum form of nutrition, it becomes increasingly complex to navigate how to feed oneself best.

Policy certainly has responsibility in keeping us informed and food transparent but it often falls short of what you may require to stay healthy as an individual. These days gluten-free is a buzzword but did you know the FDA just defined what gluten-free means less than two years ago after decades of lobbying to produce a definition?

Assessing the complexity of food transparency through the lens of a gluten-free consumer, riding the gluten-free train can be treacherous. Food preparation is complex. From farm to fork food travels the distance. It’s been estimated that on average food travels more than 1500 miles to get to your plate in the US^. Through food transportation, storage and preparation there are ample opportunities for cross contamination. A handful of studies on foods labelled as gluten-free show that up to 20% of these foods have levels of gluten higher than 20 ppm (the FDA limit to consider a food gluten-free). Our own market research shows that 1 out of 3 people get sick from unintended gluten exposure when eating outside of the home.

There’s a lot to keep track of in the factory and a kitchen. We expect food manufacturers and restaurants to be educated and take the necessary precautions when it comes to allergens but there are sometimes external forces that make it challenging to keep foods free of allergens. But part of the responsibility absolutely lies with us to keep ourselves healthy and not just free of whatever we are supposed to avoid but full of everything that’s soul nourishing and great for our health.

^The original study is found here. Thirty-three fruits and vegetables grown in the US were tracked to a terminal market in Chicago.

Year in Review

I wake up inspired. Especially in the last two years having the opportunity to work on building a product that has the potential to help you be the best you – free of bad and full of good – and something I would use every day.

There are some special weekend mornings that I am especially inspired - I shoot out of bed and sprint to the kitchen with a culinary vision. It never gets old to me – starting with just a few ingredients and mixing, baking, combining, heating, baking experimenting to create beautiful and nourishing finished product. While I would never dare to call myself a chef, circumstance has demanded the sharpening of my culinary skills. In college I had to get pretty damn creative in the kitchen having developed an allergy to egg, soy, dairy and gluten.

I think about the journey we are on with 6SensorLabs and it reminds me a lot about the experience in the kitchen.

Reflecting on 2014 I think of the incredible ingredients we have added to 6SensorLabs. The amazing team we have, each person with a special flavor and skill who contributes to the ultimate product we are developing. I think about the experimentation, the cycles of prototypes we are 3-D printing, the controlled preparation of foods and spiking with specific allergens to test our sensing technology.

Whenever I start with the raw ingredients of the meal, I always refer back to the picture of what I’m cooking. It always me to tweak the inputs, to improvise if I know the ultimate experience we want to create when meal is served. We are creating something that does not exist and we turn to you – our future customers – to guide our development.

In 2014 we combined the ingredients of 6SensorLabs and started tweaking and testing. We had an idea of what we wanted to do and the idea continued to be refined as we engaged with our future users.

In 2015 we plan to finalize the recipe so we can share it and recreate it with the world. We can’t wait to bring you this product and appreciate your continued input and support.

Hidden Gluten

Until the Canary is available, we thought it might be helpful to highlight where gluten most often hides in restaurants.

Fryers: Yes, potatoes are naturally gluten free. However, the deep fryer that perfectly crisps our french fries isn't always gluten free. If breaded items (think chicken fingers, onion rings, etc.) are fried in the same fryer, our beloved french fries are no longer gluten free. Be sure to ask the waitstaff what goes in their friers.

Salad Dressings & Marinades: Gluten can hide in some restaurant's salad dressings and marinades. Until you have a gluten sensor in your pocket, be sure to ask the restaurant what is included in their salad dressings and marinades (soy sauce can be hiding!).

Stock: Who doesn't love a hearty soup? Soups nourish the soul...unless they include some canned stocks or broths. A lot of restaurants make stock from scratch. Other commercial kitchens only buy gluten free stock/broth. Be sure to ask so you can enjoy a nourishing and hydrating bowl of soup.

Sauce: We're not talking about the classic marinara sauce. We're thinking of cream sauces, gravies and au jus. The old fashion way to thicken a sauce is to simmer while liquid evaporates until the desired consistency is reached. Some restaurants take a short cut and thicken sauces with flour.

Pasta: We all know pasta isn't naturally gluten free. We also have to be careful when we eat gluten free pastas at a restaurant. If you are very sensitive to gluten, ask if the pasta is boiled in a separate pot or with the "regular" pasta.

Grains: Polenta and risotto are gluten free staples. Again, we need to be careful how they are cooked. Some chefs add stock to our "safe" grains to add levels of flavor. Make sure to ask if the stock/broth is gluten free!

Soy Sauce: Believe it or not, most domestic soy sauces are chalk full of GLUTEN. If you are going out for a sushi dinner, do a little research in advance or pack your own.

We can't wait until the Canary is ready to help us all navigate the adventure of eating at a restaurant!

Guest post from Gluten-free Goddess Kate LeClair

The Power of Feedback

We like to think we are a feedback driven organization. We encourage the team to constantly provide feedback to each other in the spirit of transparency and constant evolution towards something better and great. And it’s critical to apply the same discipline to our product as we make any design changes or consider a new direction. Every time we sit with a potential customer we learn something new, and we make a habit of gathering the feedback for every new development.

Tonight we sat in one of San Francisco’s deliciously gluten-free restaurants to connect to our potential customers. We asked people with a gluten allergy to play with your prototypes and use it on food. Among other things we asked: - How did it make you feel - What do you wish it did?

We learned you felt liberated by having a portable gluten sensor because you get sick or fear getting sick frequently. You wish it to be as small as possible. You want the option of discretion. You don’t want to think to use the device - it has to be easy to use and simple.

We heard you - we are working on it - and can’t wait to deliver our product in your hands!