Ingredients
Formulating for the “Free-From” Category:
Allergen-Free and Gluten Free Alternatives
By Nancy Gregory
Approximately 12 million people in the United States have food allergies and must carefully watch every bite they eat,
or possibly suffer a reaction that can range
from a rash to anaphylaxis, a sudden and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.
And this number doesn’t even include the
millions of other individuals who deal with
food intolerances and sensitivities or the
growing number of those being diagnosed
with celiac disease, a digestive disorder caused
by an adverse reaction to gluten, found in
wheat, rye, barley and sometimes oats. Recent
findings estimate about 2 million people in
the United States have celiac disease, or about
1 in 133 people.
And the numbers keep growing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) reported an 18 percent increase in
food allergies among children between 1997
and 2007. The CDC’s National Center for
Health Statistics also reports that the average
number of food allergy-related ambulatory
care visits among children has escalated to
300,000 annually.
With these dramatic statistics looming, it’s
not surprising that more allergy-friendly op-
tions have appeared on grocery shelves,
health food stores and online. In the gluten-
free market alone, there has been a com-
pound growth rate of 26. 6 percent from 2007
to 2009, according to SPINS, a market re-
search and consulting firm for the Natural
Products Industry. Interestingly, the market
statistics for products free from other aller-
gens such as nuts, eggs and dairy—which af-
fect just as many, if not more consumers—are
not as readily available as numbers for gluten-
free products. “These categories have much
less consumer research and correspondingly
fewer consumer products than the gluten-free
category.” says Jill Robbins, founder and presi-
dent of HomeFree, a company that specializes
in allergen-friendly organic cookies and cakes
made in a dedicated facility free from
peanuts, tree nuts, eggs and dairy.
