Abigail Stein found lunch hours to be the most stressful part of the day. For the 13-year-old, it wasn’t just school politics or social awkwardness. At school, she saw her friends struggling to trust the food in front of them. She noticed how they lived with constant stress during lunch hours. A peanut can hide in a sauce. Sometimes shellfish can turn into a villain. Sesame can appear out of nowhere. And for kids who have allergies, this single misplacement can turn into a life-threatening reaction. That’s when Abigail decided she wanted to help them. So she designed a smart utensil, called the ‘Allergy Spoon’, that can detect allergens in food. She presented her innovation at the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, where she was named among this year’s top 10 finalists.
An ‘Allergy Spoon’
Abigail Stein decided to help her friends struggling with food allergies. About 1 in 13 children (8%), or two students per classroom, are affected by food allergies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At least 2 in 5 children (40%) are rushed to the emergency room for food allergy reactions. In the United States, there are eight foods (groups) that trigger the most serious allergic reactions. These are milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, wheat, soy, peanuts, and tree nuts. As there is no cure for allergies, prevention is the only way. And Abigail has just found a way to prevent them. The technology to detect allergens already exists. Labs use it. Hospitals use it. But those tools are expensive and belong in clinical settings, not lunchrooms. The Allergy Spoon she created changes colour when it detects an allergen in the food. She wanted it to be affordable and accessible to everyone.“I believe that science shouldn’t just stay in a lab. It should solve the everyday problems that kids actually face. Watching friends with food allergies live with constant stress at the lunch table made me realise that even though the technology to detect allergens exists, it isn’t accessible or easy for a student to use. I entered this challenge because I want to prove that you don’t need a $200 machine to change the world; sometimes, you just need a better spoon,” Abigail told the Young Scientist Lab.Early and quick recognition and treatment can prevent serious health problems or death, the CDC says.
Her favourite invention? Band-Aid
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So what invention does someone as bright as Abigail appreciate? She was asked about her favourite invention of the last 100 years, and guess what she said? The Band-Aid. “It is just so simple that we almost forget it is an ‘invention’ at all. Yet it revolutionised life for kids,” she said.Abigail also explained how the invention of Band-Aids really helps millions of children. It may not be a flashy innovation or high-tech, but, according to her, it’s a ‘quiet hero’. “Before Band-Aids, if you got a little cut, it was a big deal. This invention took the science of a hospital bandage and made it simple and child-friendly. I love this invention because it is a ‘quiet’ hero. It does not need batteries or a screen to make a child feel secure,” she said.The teenager also added that this invention itself served as an inspiration to make the affordable Allergy Spoon. “And this is exactly what I want to do with my Allergy Spoon: make a big, scary problem better with one simple tool,” she added.The 13-year-old from Harding Academy hopes to be a law officer or join the military when she grows up.
