Meet the 13-year-old who designed affordable ‘allergy spoons'

Pic courtesy: Young Scientist Lab 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 (gro...