S11.E12: Genius Juice, Rapid Rope, Ready Set Food!, Ka-Pop

[JTMacc99]

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An entrepreneur from Redondo Beach, California, introduces the Sharks to his healthy coconut beverage this week on Shark Tank. A husband and wife duo from Eagle, Idaho, present their unique twist to a typical household item, while entrepreneurs from Los Angeles, California, hope the Sharks will invest in their food allergy prevention system for babies. Finally, an entrepreneur from Erie, Colorado, pitches his healthy snack product line using an ancient grain.

 

[rhys]

I liked Mark's take on helping to provide the allergy formula to low income families.

[mjc570]

I thought the Ka-pop sounded so good that I already ordered a variety pack.  I also liked the guy, he seems like a good business person to work with.

While I understand the point of the anti-allergy supplements and how the title relates to that, I thought the name by itself was confusing.  I thought it seemed liked a good product though.  Selling through pediatricians is a good idea.

I don't see how the calorie count for the coconut shake could be so low, 1 c of shredded coconut meat has 283 calories.  Unless, of course, there isn't that much actual coconut and it's mostly coconut liquid or water. 

Generally, a much less annoying set of entrepreneurs, although the rope floss guy came pretty close.  Hate criers and sob stories, make a point of never supporting them by buying their products. 

[eel21788]

56 minutes ago, mjc570 said:

While I understand the point of the anti-allergy supplements and how the title relates to that, I thought the name by itself was confusing.  I thought it seemed liked a good product though.  Selling through pediatricians is a good idea.

Sorry, but I want a long-term study for a minimum of five years proving that exposing children to allergens early really does prevent allergies. I was part of the era that said not exposing children to allergens until they reached 12 months was the way to go.

If gradual exposure really is the key, wouldn't a woman eating the allergen before she breastfeeds work just as well as their additive?

[CrazyInAlabama]

I liked the genius juice, even though I'm not a fan of coconut.   However, that seemed to be an Einstein logo, and that might be an issue going forward. 

The rope product looked good.

The allergy powder worries me, even though there is supposed to be some literature and studies.   It contradicts what we've been told, and I wonder if it's accurate or not.   I'm surprised Mark invested in this one, he's usually not happy with medical related claims. 

The Ka-Pop looked good.    The pitches on this episode seemed very professional.   

Edited January 20, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[BusyOctober]

I liked the rope thing.  The rest was not of any interest to me.  But, I know of two families whose kids had food allergies as toddlers.  They had the same pediatrician who suggested re-introducing the allergens back into the kids’ diets.  They were closely monitored and there were guidelines for amounts, frequency, etc.  The families had epi-pens already, so if an emergency happened they had a first line of defense.  Both kids were “cured” by the time they got to first grade.  One had an egg allergy, and the other was peanuts (no other nuts tho’).  These kids are 13 and 14 now and eat pretty much whatever they want!  So the allergy powder guy’s product could work for some people, as long as a doctor had knowledge it was being given to the kids.

[ChristmasJones]

For those interested, here is one article from the NIH about the research behind the change in exposing children to foods - this one focuses on peanut allergy - 

https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2017/01/10/peanut-allergy-early-exposure-is-key-to-prevention/

 

 

[roctavia]

The allergen recommendations changed like 10 years ago, at least with what doctors are learning in their training. 

Waiting to introduce allergenic foods has increased the amount of allergies. 

There are some studies looking at exposure in utero as well and I wouldn't be surprised if a woman eating peanuts while breast feeding would be helpful to reduce allergies.. 

It's not going to work 100 percent, but if it decreases our rate of allergy overall, that would be great for so many families!

[MoreCoffeePlease]

19 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The rope product looked good.

I agree. I don't even really use rope, but I could see buying it to have it for emergencies. Maybe they could sell it to companies that produce those pre-packaged emergency kits.

Did anyone ask "Do you have a patent?" That is usually a go-to question. I could see the big rope manufacturers easily copying the idea.

[ljenkins782]

19 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The allergy powder worries me, even though there is supposed to be some literature and studies.   It contradicts what we've been told, and I wonder if it's accurate or not.   I'm surprised Mark invested in this one, he's usually not happy with medical related claims. 

The Ka-Pop looked good.    The pitches on this episode seemed very professional.   

I was surprised at Mark too, he usually shreds anyone who comes in with anything remotely medical-related who doesn't have miles of documentation and studies.

However, medical protocols change all the time, so contradictory advice is very common. Hell, there was a time when they put radium in water and called it a tonic. And baby stuff changes the most, "they should sleep on their backs/never put them on their backs" etc, that advice seems to change every few years.

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The allergen recommendations changed like 10 years ago, at least with what doctors are learning in their training. 

Waiting to introduce allergenic foods has increased the amount of allergies. 

There are some studies looking at exposure in utero as well and I wouldn't be surprised if a woman eating peanuts while breast feeding would be helpful to reduce allergies.. 

It's not going to work 100 percent, but if it decreases our rate of allergy overall, that would be great for so many families!

 

It does seem like allergies increased a millionfold in the last generation of kids, so if it was a faulty protocol that caused that, it'd be great if that could be fixed for the next generation.

Re: Ka-pop, I could swear that product has been out for a long time. I think they used to put it on the snack table at work years ago. If I recall, it was like little mini rice cakes. Not really my thing.

Edited January 21, 2020 by ljenkins782

[eel21788]

20 hours ago, ChristmasJones said:

For those interested, here is one article from the NIH about the research behind the change in exposing children to foods - this one focuses on peanut allergy - 

https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2017/01/10/peanut-allergy-early-exposure-is-key-to-prevention/

 

 

Three key points:

1. Not introducing peanuts until starting solid foods. It doesn't suggest anything about adding it to formula or breast milk of newborns.

2. Children without eczema or other food allergies aren't likely to be candidates for peanut allergy. With the incidence of peanut allergy being 1.4% of the population, 98.6% of children will never develop a peanut allergy with or without their product. I need proof that the 1.4% will be significantly reduced before I can get behind it. If they can prove that, I still need a study that proves adding it to their milk would be superior to the mother eating the allergen before breastfeeding.

3. Testing children who do have eczema or other food allergies for peanut allergy before introducing it into their diets. If you decided to add their supplement to the child's formula/milk without testing first, it could have serious consequences for a child who is already allergic without having had previous exposure. That leads me to believe their product should only be available by prescription from the pediatrician after testing has been done.

[KaveDweller]

On 1/20/2020 at 4:12 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I liked the genius juice, even though I'm not a fan of coconut.   However, that seemed to be an Einstein logo, and that might be an issue going forward. 

The rope product looked good.

The allergy powder worries me, even though there is supposed to be some literature and studies.   It contradicts what we've been told, and I wonder if it's accurate or not.   I'm surprised Mark invested in this one, he's usually not happy with medical related claims. 

The Ka-Pop looked good.    The pitches on this episode seemed very professional.   

Mark isn't usually happy with medical claims, but he does tend to like things that he thinks can help his kids or people like his kids. 

[Eolivet]

Ka-Pop was a decent pitch, but I was so distracted by the sweat/water stains all over the guy's shirt. Not even on his arm pits, but on his chest. Were those water balloons he was popping? Yikes.

[Jal]

On 1/20/2020 at 3:47 PM, eel21788 said:

Sorry, but I want a long-term study for a minimum of five years proving that exposing children to allergens early really does prevent allergies. I was part of the era that said not exposing children to allergens until they reached 12 months was the way to go.

If gradual exposure really is the key, wouldn't a woman eating the allergen before she breastfeeds work just as well as their additive?

Exactly what I was going to post.

We have a few allergies in the family, and they started at different ages. Some were at birth, others through puberty. The mothers ate the allergens, including nuts/peanuts before, during, and after pregnancy.

It was a red flag to me that they started the pitch by basically claiming that all food allergies were kick-started by mothers not eating as much of the "risky" food early on in. They don't have any solid proof of this, and it's irresponsible to make an overarching claim.

Edited January 25, 2020 by Jal