Little Rae's Bakery - Seattle's Nut Free Bakery
Message From The President
To improve our commitment to selling "Nut Safe" products, Little Rae's Bakery has eliminated all peanuts and tree nuts from our products and converted our bakery to a Nut Free facility as of July 1st, 2008.
Nut allergies affect 1 in 100 people in the United States.
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America estimates that peanut allergy is the most common cause of food-related death.
Peanut allergy among young children doubled between 1997 and 2002.
WHY
Like a growing number of our population, I am allergic to peanuts and tree nuts and have been since I was a child. My allergy is so sensitive that I am unable to try most bakery products — even the smallest amount of residual nut can send me to the hospital. Most of the reactions I have suffered have been due to inadvertently touching some peanut or nut residue and then touching my mouth or eating something by hand like a bagel or slice of pizza. The point of contamination might have been as unthreatening as the door knob which had recently been touched by someone who had just eaten peanuts.
HOW to get contaminated
Think of the happy 4 year old eating a peanut butter bagel and playing with her food like any child might. Their parents responsibly clean up after the child but there is still a tiny bit of peanut residue on their hands afterwards. This residue can transfer to the back of the chair when they move the chair or to the door handle of the restaurant when they leave. Once the residue is there it becomes possible for it to contaminate a peanut allergic person and impossible to detect.
In order to prevent allergic reactions, we have been using what we call "Peanut Butter Protocol" at Little Rae's Bakery since 1996. With the dedicated efforts of our staff of bakers, I have successfully lived through the last 12 years of producing peanut butter cookies, walnut scones, and other nut-filled goods, and have eaten our other products daily (mostly oatmeal chocolate chip cookies). However there has always been the off chance that some cross contamination had occurred.
WHAT does the FDA have to say?
The FDA does not have a certification program or set of standards to declare an establishment as "nut free". They are working on it — I will happily contribute to the development of such when the time comes. The only requirement is that what we say be true.
EATING our stuff
The "Nut Free" status only applies to our packaged products. This is because once our unwrapped products are delivered, the way they are handled and displayed is out of our control. Each pastry case, serving utensil, plate, or cutting board is a potential contact point for nut residue, which is what prevents people with allergies from buying unpackaged pastries.
When you see our products beautifully displayed in one of our local cafe's pastry cases proceed with caution! There could be goodies from another bakery that does use nuts in that case which means that the whole case is contaminated.
Ask Nicely
If you frequent a cafe that sells our stuff ask the manager if they would stock a few wrapped items for you and they very well may.
WHY
This change provides a safe option for those who currently have to go without baked goods. Our products will be welcomed not only by those with nut allergies, but also those who want to bring goodies to groups/events where just one person might have a nut allergy (increasingly common in schools).
We will still be employing the same high standards for our products and service but without the threat of nuts wrecking someone's day. Our new policies for operating a nut free bakery include allergen-free statements from all our ingredient vendors, and a "No Nuts Allowed" policy in our facility for our employees and visitors.
Personal Responsibility
As always the allergic person must take responsibility for making sure they are taking precautions to keep themselves or child safe from contamination. We cannot "Guarantee" that our food is 100% safe from nuts as there are far too many variables in the world. Please call or write our bakery if you would like to know more about how we operate.
