AIt is www.anniesjustdesserts.com

Just be careful, that if you're advertising gluten free, that you're really gluten free. If you're also baking regular batters in your kitchen there could be cross contamination and it could put some kid in the hospital. The risk isn't worth it. I know a bunch of mothers of kids with celiac disease and if they knew that the cakes they were buying were being produced in a kitchen that was also used to make regular cakes they wouldn't want to take the risk for their kids' sakes. One of them has twins in my daughter's class at school and they end up in the hospital if they have even trace amounts of certain things.

AWe made gluten-free products in the same kitchen that was used for items containing gluten for several years. We would sometimes get questions about this, but once I explained the process we used to prevent cross-contamination customers were always satisfied with the response and would go ahead with the order.

Of course if your response to this question involves luck and prayer that might be an issue.

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I appreciate your post as I understand how trace amounts can have great impact. Everything is completely sanitized from my mixing equipment to all tools and surfaces. I use extreme caution and even have separate storage for my 'crossover' products such as sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla, etc. to ensure that they are not contaminated. I often feel like a surgeon prepping an OR before making my gluten free products. I know of many kitchens (in bakeries and otherwise) where gluten free and products containing wheat are prepared successfully and without endangering customers. The only thing I do not do is nut free as I have a permit for a residential kitchen and am not willing to make my family give up peanut butter and nuts. They contain the smallest protein which makes it very difficult to ensure that they are cleaned from surfaces or tools without special equipment.

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FYI, I have severe allergies to nuts and peanuts, and I've had no issues with my wife using products with nuts in our personal kitchen for the past 10+ years. It is probably more difficult to avoid gluten contamination than nut contamination since gluten particles tend to be airborne more often.

Everyone has a different tolerance, just wanted to let you know that it can be done without too much difficulty. Our commercial kitchen was nut-free, but we didn't have to worry about personal meals.

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Then on the other hand, my daughter can't take peanut butter to school because she sits next to a kid at lunch who can go into anaphylactic shock if she smells it. Seriously, Jason, especially on this forum, where you know that people tend to look for any excuse to do what they want to do, you really shouldn't tell people that it's not too hard to do nut free if they have nuts in the kitchen. If anything, someone with severe allergic reactions should be telling them to not try it, since you know someone will come on here trying to find the one post that says it's okay even though every other post says they shouldn't put someone's health or life at risk.

AWhat dangerous and irresponsible advice. anyone wanting to provide nut free baking, please please please ignore that crap about it not being as difficult as you think. Your personal experience does not make it ok to give advice that goes against health standards. I really can't believe I just read that. I hope mods delete that comment. As someone from a family that lost a child to a nut allergy, I'm furious, and frankly, offended as hell.

scrumdiddlycakes, please accept my sympathy--i'm very sorry for your heartbreaking loss--

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i mean jason has a severe nut allergy himself--how could he not be most helpful--gluten allergies can be set off by many environmental factors more than just food unlike a peanut allergy--no one is dictating the business practice of another--

we're all giving our varied opinions --each one has merit --none are the final answer on anything -- 

AWhile Jason's post may not be the final answer, it is an answer that could easily be mistaken as reliable advice from 'someone who should know', when he should really know better.

AYou are absolutely right and I should have qualified my statement...of course you need to be careful about reading labels, sanitizing equipment, and avoiding cross-contamination, but nut-free is easier than gluten-free if only because fewer items are contaminated with nuts than with gluten and you typically don't have airborne contamination with nuts.

I was responding to Psyched Baker's post saying that she was not willing to make her family give up nuts and that tools were very difficult to clean without special equipment, my response was meant to indicate that it is still possible to offer safe nut-free products in a kitchen using nuts with standard cleaning and sanitizing equipment as long as you are careful and diligent about avoiding contamination.

AHi, I see that the thread has been added to. I just wanted to share two pieces of info that may be helpful.

1. When I had my kitchen inspected, the health inspector told me that nut particles are the smallest and most difficult to remove without professional equipment. That is why I won't even consider nut free as the risk is too high for me (and nut free consumers).

2. I recently found out that you can send baked goods to a lab to be tested for gluten for around 100 dollars. I wanted to share that as I think it is a good idea to do the testing if you are offering GF goods as it gives feedback as to whether our practices are truly safe enough and provides reassurance for consumers. If anyone wants the name of the lab I am using I can post here.

I agree that this is serious stuff not to be taken lightly. In Jason's defense, I think he has a different perspective as he is someone living with a food allergy and I agree that his wife is likely extremely cautious.

AAll this is why I refuse allergy-friendly orders!

I must stress that food allergies are a real and present danger in our communities these days. I have seen children go into anaphylactic shock when touching play equipment that has been touched by another child who has eaten a nut product, or been breathed upon by a nut-eating friend, or has eaten at the same table where a satay or other nut-containing foods have been served.

Food allergies are a matter of life and death for some people.

As providers of food, it is also a matter of business survival for those of us offering allergy-free baked goods.

Any flippant, dismissive or outright irresponsible posts regarding food allergies will not be tolerated and will be deleted. When it concerns the health and lives of people, there can be no equivocation.

AI don't post much but as the mother of a peanut allergic child I was a bit horrified at Jason's casual attitude towards it. My son has had a reaction from being in the same room as peanut butter. My son has had reactions from things baked in pans that once baked peanut butter cookies. He had a reaction from someone having peanut butter on their skin. It's not a simple thing to make sure a kitchen is nut free.

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I was not being "casual" about it. I've lived with a severe nut allergy (and an egg allergy) for 35 years and once you are old enough to manage it yourself you eventually learn not to freak out about your allergy, not to overreact, and not to let your allergy define your life.

As an individual, you just need to be careful about what you eat, err on the side of caution when someone else is preparing your food, and keep your allergy meds/epi-pen with you at all times. As an allergy-friendly producer, you need to be careful about sanitizing, err on the side of caution when purchasing ingredients from other manufacturers, have a process in place to avoid cross-contamination, and communicate this info to your customers so they can decide for themselves if it's safe for them. This is not "simple", but nor is it all that difficult...it's just another process that needs to be carefully followed.

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I get where you are coming from, my daughter has an allergy to dairy, but when she is older and manages herself, she will be just fine. She will learn to manage her food intake and read labels, one day her allergy will just be her way of life. I'm not saying it is not a big deal, it just becomes life for them like it has for others. I know how you feel, my daughter won't even be going to school until she learns to ask questions and read labels, it is very scary when it is your child's life.

AThis completely changed subjects! Sorry about your thread OP.