Samvith Mahadevan, 14, builds the Allergent to spot hidden allergens
Samvith Mahadevan, a 14-year-old from Austin, Texas, built The Allergent, a portable gadget that spots hidden food allergens like peanuts and eggs using chemical sensors and machine learning.
His own struggles with allergies inspired the project, which earned him a $10,000 prize at the 2024 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge.
Allergent achieves 94% to 97% accuracy
The Allergent is surprisingly accurate, scoring 94% to 97% in tests, and sends results straight to your phone after checking foods like cookies and curries.
Samvith conducted more than 2,000 rounds of testing before moving on to real-world foods and now wants to add more allergens like gluten and dairy.
As he puts it, Samvith hopes that one day, The Allergent will be able to help people with food allergies live safer lives.