Can I Eat This? Spoken’s Mission Is to Help People With Allergies Get a Quick Answer

Managing food allergies requires a lot of time and effort — and information isn’t always available when and where you need it. As the mom of a daughter with life-threatening food allergies, Susie Hultquist knew this problem all too well. But it wasn’t until she struggled to identify whether her daughter could safely eat Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies that business inspiration struck. In 2015, Susie founded Spokin. Think Instagram meets Yelp meets WebMD, specifically built for people with allergies. Users review products and restaurants all around the world based on their allergens, and their contributions appear on a newsfeed alongside Sporkin’s product guides, recipes and other original content. The app automatically filters out products containing your personal allergens, thanks to their detailed signup process, and there’s also a search option for when you’re looking for restaurants in a particular city, or for the ingredients of a particular item.