I always love checking out new products and "new to me" products, so events like these always excite me. While dietary restrictions do not impact me directly, having friends with special dietary needs leaves me striving to find new products that I can share with them and knowledge about their needs and what to look for in ingredients of recipes and foods for them.
Dietary restrictions are real, it is up to us to be knowledgeable of their needs and support them in every way possible so they know that they are not alone. Knowledge is so powerful, y'all! Imagine going to a house party with friends and not being able to eat any of the foods because of a dietary restriction. Don't be the friend that doesn't take into consideration the dietary needs of your friends. Instead, make yourself knowledgeable on what their needs are and how you can accommodate their needs. I don't expect to know EVERYTHING there is to know about allergens and GF products, but just knowing what kind of products there are out there will hopefully give me the tools that I need to be a better friend.
The Gluten Free & Allergen Friendly Expo is the largest gluten free & allergen friendly event in the U.S. and boasts a wide variety of products and presenters to meet dietary needs. From product samples, coupons, discounted products, and classes & demonstrations, I could not wait to check out the exhibitors!
As much as I would love to be able to talk about each and every company that I visited with on Saturday, that is not feasible. (If you want to check out the exhibitors, you can head to the GF & AF website to see the full list) Instead, I wanted to highlight a few of the exhibitors that really stood out to me the most.
NIMA is a food sensor that you simply put a small sampling of your meal into a vial and the sensor indicates if there is gluten in the sample. Sometimes foods are mis-advertised as gluten free, sometimes there is cross contamination, etc. Having NIMA helps you be more knowledgeable about the foods you are about to consume before eating it. They also have a NIMA app that users can post their results to in order to help others know in advance if there are issues prior to dining there.
Right now the NIMA Senor only reads for gluten, but this summer they are coming out with a peanut sensor as well which is HUGE for those with severe peanut allergies. To learn more about NIMA Sensor, check out their website at www.nimasensor.com
www.gfafexpo.com
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