Identifying Local Opportunities (Week 3)

Gout is painful, but treatable

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/money/business/2016/01/20/gout-painful-treatable/78897630/

Gout, “the unwalkable disease”, is a disease that inflames your big toe, appearing red and swollen. It’s caused by rich foods like shellfish, organ meats, alcohol and anything that relates to an affluent lifestyle. The treatment is colchicine, a potent laxative.

The problem in this article is the pain paired with Gout. It can also occur in almost any joint. There are microscopic crystals within the joint that make it feel as though there’s broken glass.

People that live a prosperous life enjoying rich-like foods, mainly cause the disease. My entrepreneurship opportunity would be creating a pill-like vitamin to help cure/alleviate the pain of gout. The treatment includes colchicine, and allopurinol (a xanthine oxidase inhibitor). Cherries, cherry extract and cherry juice have xanthine oxidase inhibitors (a good preventative). I’d like to make a vitamin containing cherry (extract/juice) and other foods to help treat the condition like anchovies, meat extracts, mussels, yeast, etc. Foods like these are low-purine which will also help cure the disease.

Brain-tangling algae lurks in Florida waters

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2016/01/19/brain-tangling-algae-lurks-fl-waters/79000082/

Continuing exposure to algae toxin in shellfish, crabs, and other seafood species increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and ALS.  Biological research found brain tangles and protein deposits in the brains of monkeys that were fed fruit medicated with the same amino acids made by the toxic algae.

The study in this reading proves that monkeys fed the same amounts of BMAA (beta-Methylamino-L-alanine) with the dietary amino acid named L-serine, reduced the tangles, which lowers the risk of neurological diseases.

This problem will matter once people ingest specific sea creatures that have already been exposed to the algae toxin. The toxins increase the chance of specific diseases like Alzheimer’s. Since it’s too ambitious to clear the toxins from blue-green polluted marine water, I thought to create a formula with foods highest in Serine (soybeans, egg, yolk, nuts, etc), to feed/inject into seafood bought by restaurants. This will ensure a less hazardous consumption for customers.

Bend and a beer: Yoga classes and craft breweries team up

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20160118/WIRE/160119659/1184?Title=Bend-and-a-beer-Yoga-classes-and-craft-breweries-team-up

White traditional yoga helps you focus on your inner being; this yoga beer class is more socially oriented. It’s also a great way for single men to mingle with women. You’d still connect with yourself, but instead of running home, you’d sit at the bar and relax while having a few beers!

If people plan on having a couple drinks, they should plan ahead because DUI’s are dangerous and serious. They shouldn’t be driving knowing that they’ll be drinking after their yoga beer session.

This problem is directed to mainly all of the customers that are drawn to the idea of drinking after their class. I came up with the idea of basically a carpooling van. It would pick up the excited newbies from their homes to the class, and back. Specific vans will pick up a few customers in the same vicinity; this way new and potential customers could also meet each other before the class begins. 

Walt Disney Parks & Resorts recalls infant bodysuits due to choking hazard

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2016/01/19/walt-disney-parks-and-resorts-recalls-infant.html

Disney has issued a recall on its Darth Vader infant bodysuits due to a choking hazard. Luckily, no injuries have been reported but anyone that has purchased these bodysuits should return them for a full refund.

Because the three snaps on the bodysuits can detach, it can threaten the breathing of infants. Toddlers and infants that wear detachable pieces of clothing can present a choking risk. These detachable items include: buttons, zipper heads, snaps, bows, and decorative appliques.

This is a threat to all infants and toddlers that wear bodysuits. To prevent future risks, I think creating a safe clothing line for infants can become a lucrative business. A mother’s concerns for their children are safety and health. Designing harmless infant clothing will relieve the stress of many families, or resorts like Disney. Creating a team with scientists, designers, etc. can help our experiments go through smoothly with accurate results. 

O'Dang Hummus shares details on future flavors, growth plans

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/blog/2016/01/odang-hummus-shares-details-on-future-flavors.html

Jesse Wolfe, the founder and CEO of O’Dang Hummus formulated a dressing mainly with the ingredient, hummus. In it includes three flavors of hummus and four types of salad dressings. He managed to sell his product to Whole Foods throughout Florida.

Students who have meal plans through chapters or meal plans through their dining area, can’t experience the zesty dressing that O’Dang Hummus has to offer. Not to mention, their array of dressing’s isn’t unique and various.

What if this salad dressing was shipped to Colleges/Universities dining area plus the dining area of fraternities and sororities? Being in a chapter myself, we’ve all craved different kinds of dressings. The ones laid out for us are plain with no substance. Also, people just love hummus. It’s one of those things that excites my chapter when we see it on the menu.