Pace University's Entrepreneurship Lab
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STRIP

Executive Summary

The company name STRIP encapsulates the product itself - this is a small, convenient, and disposable strip of paper with a chemical reaction indicator at the end, specific for the monosodium glutamate (MSG) amino acid derivative, glutamic acid. This product allows you to test for the presence of MSG, a commonly used flavor enhancer, with just a swipe on or through your food. Like some drugs, MSG is an excitotoxin, and can your cells to the point of damage or deterioration. According to the FDA, excessive intake of MSG has been linked to triggering or worsening of learning disabilities, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and ALS, mainly through the inflammatory reaction body cells have to high MSG concentrations. Even though these detrimental properties are known, MSG is only loosely regulated in the US and is often not regulated at all in other countries. With the product STRIP, you will be able to easily test for what food products contain MSG, as well as MSG byproducts, because the indicator STRIP is designed to be sensitive for the amino acid glutamic acid, as well as its related contaminates. In order to eat clean, you have to strip your food down to its smallest components, and this product will allow you to do just that.

Biography

Jennifer Li is a junior at Pace Univerity with a major in Business Economics and a minor in mathematics. She is fluent in both Chinese (Mandarin) and English. She believes that healthy living should be made effortless, efficient and simple, and thus the product STRIP was born.