Gluten Free Watchdog Position Statement on Consumer Use of the Nima Sensor to Test Food for Gluten

Bottom line:

At Gluten Free Watchdog we have been testing a wide variety of products with the Nima Sensor. It is very difficult to put the results of testing completed to date into proper context due to the lack of a published validation report on this device. One goal of our testing is to provide recommendations for consumer use of the Nima Sensor. This is proving to be impossible at this time. In the opinion of Gluten Free Watchdog the […]

What’s to blame for possible false positive “low gluten” test results using the Nima?

Bottom line: Gluten Free Watchdog has personally tested many products using the Nima Sensor. One of the issues slowly emerging is what appear to be false positives (e.g., defined by Gluten Free Watchdog as products testing “low gluten” when tested with the Nima but less than 1 ppm when tested with the R5 ELISA) when testing certain types of samples. The gluten-free foods (and products free of gluten-containing ingredients) testing “low gluten” using the Nima have similar ingredients and […]

R5 ELISA Test Results for Gluten-Containing Products Testing “Low Gluten” & “High Gluten” Using the Nima Sensor

Bottom Line: Based on testing done to date by Gluten Free Watchdog, products testing “low gluten” using Nima tested from below the limit of detection of 1 ppm gluten up to 18,963 ppm gluten using the R5 ELISA. Barley flour also tested low gluten. Based on these results it is difficult to assess the meaning or understand the usefulness of a “low gluten” Nima reading.

Why did we test gluten-containing products: We tested a variety of gluten-containing products out of […]

Products testing low gluten using the Nima Sensor test less than 5 ppm using the R5 ELISA: False Positives?

Bottom Line: In some cases packaged food labeled gluten-free (or appearing to be free of gluten containing ingredients) testing “low gluten” using the Nima may test below the lower limit of quantification of 5 parts per million of gluten (and below the limit of detection of 1 ppm) using the fully validated R5 ELISA Mendez Method (Ridascreen Gliadin R7001).

Comparison Testing: Results comparing the Nima to the R5 ELISA included in this summary report are for the same product. In […]

Troubling Gluten Testing Data Released by Nima: But Hold the Phone

Yesterday the Nima Sensor team released testing data that has caused me a great deal of concern. They are reporting that 24% of packaged foods tested by consumers and uploaded to the Nima app have tested gluten detected. They are also reporting in a new graphic that it is very rare for the Nima to test positive for gluten at levels below 20 parts per million.

BUT this is not the complete story. The Nima is NOT a fully validated […]