(BizJournals) - For millions of people around the world, it doesn’t get much better than enjoying a good meal or good conversation with friends or family over a glass of wine.

But for many people — about 3 million in the United States alone, according to the Food and Drug Administration — the idea of settling down with a glass of wine can be worrisome.

The wife of St. Louis entrepreneur Alan MacInnes is one of those people. Alison MacInnes suffers from an adverse reaction to the sulfites that are added to most wine to help preserve it. Symptoms of such sulfite sensitivity can include headaches, a rash or flushing of the face, dizziness and respiratory and gastrointestinal issues.

“She would have a glass or two of wine, go to bed and then wake up in the middle of the night, suffering hot flushes, and couldn’t get back to sleep. After some investigation she was actually medically diagnosed with a sulfite sensitivity,” Alan MacInnes said.

The solution for Alison MacInnes was simple: if she wanted to avoid those health issues, it meant no more wine. That is, until her husband, and his team at St. Louis startup company YourBevCo came up with a better idea.

As an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Biogenerator, a non-profit organization that helps grow bioscience companies in St. Louis, MacInnes looked for a fix.

“Someone I knew told me she had a gluten intolerance, and was thinking of ways to remove gluten from beer,” he said. “That triggered a thought in my mind. Basically it was, ‘hang on a minute. My wife has a sulfite sensitivity. Can we see if we can remove sulfites from wine?’”

So he created the StiQit, a six-inch disposable plastic stick that looks a lot like a traditional “swizzle stick.” When it’s swirled in a glass of wine for a few seconds, the StiQit removes all of the sulfites without affecting the appearance, the aroma or the taste of the wine.