Why I built Harpaboo

I still remember the day we learned my daughter Harper had food allergies — and a trip to the ER is not the way you want to find out. After that day, food, which had always been a source of pleasure, became a source of anxiety.

I worried constantly that she would eat something with one of her allergens in it, and I dreaded going anywhere that served food. I searched for resources and tried to think of ways to teach her which foods were safe and which were not.

It’s easy to say “don’t drink milk.” But how do you teach a small child that milk hides in a muffin, in some breads — and, to my surprise, in some french fries? That’s where the idea for Harpaboo came from.

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Harpaboo is a personalized education game that lets kids practice recognizing safe and unsafe foods, tuned to their own allergen profile. It supports 13 allergens — the Big 9 and beyond. The game shows one food at a time and offers three choices: Safe, Not Safe, or Ask an Adult. After choosing, kids see whether they were right — and which of their allergens are (or may be) hiding in that food.

Because food safety is a family affair, Harpaboo also has a Sibling Mode, where brothers and sisters practice as helpers, learning to spot what’s safe for their sibling.