This mini lab gadget detects major food allergies in your meals in minutes

CES 2026 saw a lot of clever wellness innovations, from smart mirrors that use selfies to give you health insights to wearable devices that recognise perimenopause symptoms. But my favourite wellness-related gadget from the event has to be Allergen Alert, a mini laboratory that detects major food allergens in your meals.

The Allergen Alert is a portable, battery-powered device that’s about the width of a smartphone, so you can take it with you and use it at restaurants, hotels, school and even on planes and trains. Alongside the machine, Allergen Alert comes with pouches which is where you put your food samples.

How Allergen Alert works is you put a sample of your food into the pouch and add it to the top of the device. You’ll also have to log the pouch sample in the compatible app, and you simply tap the button on the Allergen Alert machine for it to start scanning your food.

After a few minutes, Allergen Alert will come back with your results. Currently, Allergen Alert detects nine different allergens, including milk, gluten, eggs, wheat, fish, shellfish, peanuts, soy and tree nuts. It claims to be scientifically accurate down to 5ppm for milk and 4ppm for gluten (parts per million).

While it already tests for nine food allergens, Allergen Alert is still in development, and the company has said it plans to expand to other allergies in the future. The pouches are all single-use and you get a monthly supply of six pouches which comes with a $25 monthly subscription fee.

As someone who has a dairy intolerance, I’d definitely invest in Allergen Alert. I’ve been to too many restaurants that have said there isn’t dairy in my meal, only to find that there must have been when I experience uncomfortable and painful stomach problems after eating.

The one downside I have is Allergen Alert only comes with six single-use pouches at a time. Personally, I don’t eat out at restaurants all the time but if you’re away on holiday and eating three meals out a day, I can imagine you can get through the pouches in a short amount of time.

But overall, I’ve never seen a gadget like this and I can definitely see myself using it when it officially launches. It’s a complete game changer for those who have food intolerances and allergies, and I can’t wait to see it in action.

Pricing and availability for Allergen Alert is currently unavailable, although media outlets have stated it could be priced around $200. As of writing, you can only sign up to become an ‘Early Adopter’.