Could gadget warn of wine-headache potential?

[Robin Garr]

Thanks to Howie for pointing out this article on MSNBC ...

Gadget may stave off wine headaches
<b>Researchers say device detects chemicals that can cause pain</b>

BERKELEY, Calif. - The effects are all too familiar: a fancy dinner, some fine wine and then, a few hours later, a racing heart and a pounding headache.

But a device developed by University of California, Berkeley, researchers could help avoid the dreaded "red wine headache."

Chemists working with NASA-funded technology designed to find life on Mars have created a device they say can easily detect chemicals that many scientists believe can turn wine and other beloved indulgences into ingredients for agony.

The chemicals, called biogenic amines, occur naturally in a wide variety of aged, pickled and fermented foods prized by gourmet palates, including wine, chocolate, cheese, olives, nuts and cured meats.

<b>The story goes on</b> to describe a device that tests for levels of amines in beverages and suggests this information be listed on the label.

Might be. I'm not convinced, though, that over-indulgence headaches aren't more easily explained by the alcohol ...

Robin, the question becomes: Do I want to know? Consider the fact that to use the tester you mention, I must already have purchased the wine. So then I test it and find that there's a high probability that it will give me a headache. What do I do - throw it away and get another headache worrying about the waste of money or drink it and enjoy it and deal with the headache if I get it? Now if I could test in the store, or see online test results that might be worthwhile.

I've always attributed the headaches to dehydration. I had a good friend who used to get them, but after I introduced them to the concept of at least a glass of water for every two glasses of wine, they didn't get them any longer.

Of course, it could just be that less alcohol was consumed because water was filling some of the intake room!

Thanks to Howie for pointing out this article on MSNBC ...

Gadget may stave off wine headaches
<b>Researchers say device detects chemicals that can cause pain</b>

I just love these press releases. UCB's hype machine is working overtime this time. What Mathies has got is pretty cool, the Microfabricated Organic Analyzer, which is basically a lab on a chip. However, that particular application strikes me as one of the least useful, as opposed to e.g. analyzing Martian soil samples for signs of life. First of all, the source of red wine headaches is very much a matter of debate and may have multiple causes. Secondly, you'd much rather have a technique you could use before buying the wine. Thirdly, a colleague of mine, Graham Cooks, has developed a device that IMO is much more useful. Called DESI (Desorption ElectroSpray Ionization) mass spectrometry, it's a technique that can quickly and reliably identify small molecules obtained from a surface. It's already commercialized and being explored for use in airport screening. I've mentioned to him that he should try analyzing the corks of unopened wine bottles for TCA; I'll have to mention to him to try for histamine and tyramine, too.

Mark Lipton

...and since biogenic amines show up in a variety of foods, why doesn't anyone ever invent something to take to the restaurant that you can stick into your marinated meat to determine if you'll get a headache, high blood pressure, palpitating heart, or a decent steak?

Imagine what you could do with a gadget that you can stand up in your cheese, stick and swirl in your miso, lay on top of your sour cream...the possibilities are endless, as are the gadgets.

Any kind of counter that can tell you how many corks have come out of bottles will work fine. Three or more from France and you are asking for it; two from anywhere in the New World.