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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

food sensor

Allergy Amulet Raises $3.3M for Food Allergen Detection Device

Allergy Amulet, a company that makes a portable device to detect food allergens, has raised $3.3 million in seed funding, WisconsinInno reported yesterday. The round was led by TitletownTech, with participation from Great North Labs, Colle Capital, Great Oaks VC, DeepWork Capital, Dipalo Ventures and Bulldog Innovation Group. This brings Allergy Amulet’s total funding to $4.8 million.

There are two parts to the Allergy Amulet system: A USB stick-sized reader and the accompanying test strips. Users swab their food with the test strip and insert it into the test strip case. That case is then plugged into the device, which “pairs molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) technology with an electrochemical system to detect target allergenic ingredients” and returns results in under a minute. There is also an optional mobile app to help store and share results (to alert others about allergens at different restaurants, for example).

According to the Allergy Amulet FAQ, “The Amulet can test a wide variety of solid and liquids—from granola bars and cupcakes, to salads and soups.” The company plans to offer tests for peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, wheat, eggs, milk, and soy, as well as gluten and sesame.

The company plans to offer a basic and a premium jewelry line of devices that will cost between $150 and $300, depending on the configuration. Test strips will be $3 each, and Allergy Amulet will start taking pre-orders this fall for beta units. An official launch is slated for the fall of 2021.

If Allergy Amulet can fulfill on its promise, it certainly seems like it could give Nima a run for its money. Nima, which is already at market, sells separate portable sensors that can detect either peanuts or gluten for $229, with its testing cartridges costing roughly $6 a piece.

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, there are 200,000 emergency room visits a year due to food allergies. Devices like Allergy Amulet and Nima could help reduce those numbers and bring safer eating to everyone.

SensoGenic is Making a Handheld Sensor to Detect Many Different Types of Food Allergens

It’s estimated that there are 32 million Americans with food allergies, which includes 5.6 million kids under the age of 18. Israeli startup SensoGenic wants to help those afflicted by allergies with its portable, handheld sensor that can detect allergens in food (h/t Israel21c).

SensoGenic has two parts, the base unit that holds the electronics and a disposable one-time use test pad. Users place a small sample of food into the test pad and insert it into the base unit. Here’s where things get all science-y: SensoGenic Founder and CEO, Alon Yasovsky, told me by phone that the system uses cellulose, which will bind to an allergen. It will then use an antibody to create a reaction, and the sensor detects the specific allergen on the cellulose. The test takes about three minutes and results are beamed to an app on a user’s smart phone. Yasovsky said it can detect allergen levels at 10 parts per million.

Right now, SensoGenic is focused on discovering eggs and peanuts in food, but the device could be used to detect all kinds of different allergens (soy, dairy, fish, etc.). SensoGenic is currently in the R&D phase and is building the first prototype to scale up for beta users. The company is targeting mass production in 2022, with the U.S. being its first market. When it becomes available, Yasovsky said the SensoGenic device itself will retail for $199 with tests costing about 95 cents a piece.

Having the flexibility to test for different allergens and at a price point to where you could run multiple tests affordably during a multi-course meal could be a game changer for those with food allergies. Right now, Nima makes gluten and peanut sensors that each retail for $229, with its one-time cartridge tests costing $6 a pop. Nima, however, is very much a real product already at scale that people can purchase today, and it will have three years to further develop and iterate its sensors before SensoGenic would even hit the market here in the U.S.

Thus far, SensoGenic has raised $720,000 from eHealth Ventures and the Isreal Innovation Authority. If SensoGenic works as promised hopefully it can raise more and scale quickly so kids and adults with food allergies can feel more confident about eating out.

Scientists Transform NFC Tags Into Spoiled Meat Sensors

If you’re like me, you’ve done the smell test on that week old ground beef to make sure it hasn’t spoiled. And if you’re also like me, there’s always a nagging doubt about the accuracy of old-school sniff tests, especially when the downside of rotten meat is such…um…high steaks (sorry not sorry).

Lucky for us, in the future we’ll have some tech-powered backup to make sure our sniffers are accurate.

The latest take on food spoilage sensors is from researchers out of China’s Nanjing University and the University of Texas at Austin, who published a paper last week outlining their research project in which they created a “a nanostructured conductive polymer-based gas sensor” which they embedded into an NFC tag. When the sensor detects meat spoilage vapors, it acts as a switch for the NFC tag to send an alert to a nearby smart phone (normal NFC transmission range is less than 4 inches).

From the study’s press release:

The scientists created a nanostructured, conductive, polymer-based gas sensor that can detect substances called biogenic amines (BAs), which give decomposing meat its bad odor. They embedded these sensors into NFCs placed next to meats. After the meats had been stored for 24 hours at 86 degrees Fahrenheit, the researchers found that the sensors successfully detected significant amounts of BAs. The sensors then switched on the NFCs so they could transmit this information to a nearby smartphone.

The most likely place for this type of system is further up the food value chain than my fridge, but there’s a good chance consumers will eventually use this type of tech in the home kitchen. While others like Amazon are already looking into gas sensors as a way to detect spoiled food, the concept of embedded sensor switches on NFC labeling could eliminate the need for sensors built into fridges. While I like the idea of smarter fridges, the NFC approach wouldn’t require a big up front purchase of a high-end appliance. I also think some retailers might see smart labels (like those with built-in meat spoilage sensors) as a differentiator.

And of course, there are other ways to reduce food waste without the need for gas-sensing labels. One of my favorites is Mimica’s label, which turns “bumpy” when milk approaches its expiration date. Another is Ovie’s Bluetooth tag and storage system, which accesses spoilage data from USDA and FDA to help us better predict when food might go bad.

Bottom line: as we found out at last week’s meetup, food waste continues to be a massive problem, but there are lots of innovative ideas – some close to market, others further away – that could help us become less wasteful.

Consumer Physics, Maker of Controversial SCiO Food Sensor, Pursues A ‘SCiO-Inside’ Strategy

Back when Consumer Physics debuted the SCiO on Kickstarter back in 2014, the tech world was amazed at what the company claimed its handheld $200 device would eventually do: determine the molecular makeup – including the calorie count and nutrients – of food by scanning it with an infrared spectrometer. The amazing claims helped the company raise over $2.7 million on Kickstarter.

However, since a highly successful crowdfunding campaign, the road has been a bit rockier for the Israel-based startup. First was a delay in shipping the product, and last year the company’s Kickstarter page was taken down due to what was described as an “intellectual property dispute”, which the company claims is not about the actual technology, but instead a naming dispute.

Despite their Kickstarter issues, the company did finally ship its handheld molecular scanner. While the initial reviews have been mixed and some remain skeptical about SCiO’s claims, the company has actually found a new way to bring its technology to market: through third party OEMs.

At CES this year, the company announced a partnership with Chinese mobile phone maker Changhong, which has worked with both Consumer Physics and silicon manufacturer Analog Devices to put the Scio tech for the first time into a mobile phone. While Changhong isn’t exactly Apple or Samsung, the integration of Scio’s technology is an encouraging since for Consumer Physics. Adding additional credibility is the fact Analog Devices – one of the biggest mobile silicon manufacturers – had lent its name to the announcement.

Another intriguing announcement came in the form of the Nutrismart scale by Terraillon. The French kitchen device company announced its kitchen scale would be able to scan food and give a read of the nutritional information. Terraillion has said they will launch the smart scale in Europe this year and hope to bring it to the US by 2018.

So despite the continued Kickstarter suspension, Consumer Physics seems intent on pushing forward with its technology.   The company’s recent deals may mark a new way forward that could allow it to reach more consumers through a “SCiO-Inside” type of strategy.

We’ll keep an eye out for early reviews from the initial customers of its partner products later this year.