I am travelling around the world and have been using the Nima Gluten Sensor to test at restaurants and on food products, especially when I cannot read the labels. This is why I have come up with the top 3 tips for using the Nima Gluten Sensor for testing if food is gluten free. It has been a huge hit with me because I have so much more freedom while travelling.
Language barriers are real, and you cannot always get the answers you need to assess whether something is gluten free or not. I particularly noticed this while travelling in Asia because they do not have a large percentage of their population who have celiac. Let’s face it, even when there are no language barriers and you are in your home town, eating out can be challenging, especially when you try a new restaurant or want to buy a new food product at the grocery store. See my top tips below:
Test Food for Gluten: Getting Results When Testing Meat
Meats can be tricky and can have hidden sources of gluten if they are marinated or cooked on surfaces that previously contained gluten. Thinking back to summer time and going to friends houses for backyard BBQ’s, I always felt like I was an investigator with all the questions that I would ask. Further to that, I would usually bring my own meat and tinfoil to use on the BBQ anyways. Now I can actually test the meat that my friends and family are serving to see if I can eat it! This is a big leap forward. See the video above for exactly how to test meats so you do not get test errors.
Move this concept to a country where I do not know the cuisine or cooking practices and it gets even more valuable. Eating out at restaurants is nerve racking. I was pumped that I had a tool I could use. I was originally getting test errors for meat and it was not fun. Then I realized that meat is quite dense, so I was probably not leaving enough room in the capsule to perform the test itself. Bingo! Once I got more specific on the amount of meat to put in the capsule and actually paid attention to it, I stopped getting the annoying test errors.
Gluten Free Testing: How to Test the Whole Plate with One Capsule
While there is no catch all and full proof way to see if there is cross contamination on your whole plate, there are some tips that can improve your chances to testing the whole plate with just one test and one capsule.
Swabbing of the whole plate will help you capture the majority of the plate. The more you swab, the more area that you test. See the video to see exactly how I tested a meal served to me to increase the chance of catching most of the plate.
While the nay-sayers of this product are quick to jump on this as a major drawback, I answer with improving my swabbing so I can get most, if not all of the plate. Listen, having celiac disease is no fun and I still do all my due diligence at a restaurant by asking all the right questions, but why not add another step by testing the food you are consuming to see if there is gluten in it? For all those good questions to ask, see the Canadian Celiac Association here.
Gluten Free Test: How to Test Chips and Corn Puffs
Different food products require different testing techniques to get the optimal testing results. I love junk food, so I quickly became an expert on how to test chips and products with the same consistency. This was particularly important when I could not read the ingredients lists, for example, that were written in Thai.
The trick is really starting with a clean surface and crushing the product in perfect little pieces before using the capsules for testing. Again, check out the short video to see how I made it work and turn it into the best results for you.
Gluten in Food: How I Used it While Travelling
Having a tool, that can help me test food for gluten ingredients, has been a life changer for me as I travel around the world. As you can imagine I have been faced with language barriers where there is a high chance of getting misinformation or no specific information at all. For this reason alone, the Nima Gluten Sensor has allowed me to feel safe when eating at restaurants across Asia. I will also be using it in the rest of the countries that we visit this year.
Are you Interested in Being Able to Test Food For Gluten?
I have been using the Nima Gluten Sensor for a few months now and I am so happy that I did end up purchasing it. At first, I wasn’t sure if I should buy it because it is not cheap, but my husband talked me into it. The last time I checked it was $229 USD for the starter kit.
He saw how hard it is for me to know 100% if there is gluten in food and it is a small price to pay to have my anxiety reduced and to be able to actually eat food!
Disclosure: This is a link affiliate link. This means that you get the product for the same amount, but I will get a small commission.
2 thoughts on “How to Test for Gluten: My Top 3 Tips When Using the Nima Gluten Sensor”
Easy to follow, easy to read…heck I had to leave a commment!
Glad you liked it!