Allergies & Me, an online store launched July 23, offers individuals suffering from food allergies and their family members a new tool for ordering a broad range of allergen-free food products and accessing allergy-related resources online.

"I started the company after witnessing first-hand the hardships in raising a child with severe multiple food allergies," founder Jamie Stern said in a PRWeb posting. "The company was created to help people with food allergies, food intolerances and those that require organic, vegan, vegetarian or special diets."

The warehouse facilities at Allergies & Me hold several hand-picked varieties of common foods tailored to those with special dietary needs.  Companies must demonstrate a commitment to both quality and taste in order for their product to be marketed on the site.  

“We have a product team that pre-screens all potential new manufacturers,” Stern said in an e-mail to EDB staff. “They must complete an application that includes extensive questions regarding ingredients and allergen cross-contamination protocols in place. Once that is satisfactory, the pre-screening includes submissions of samples and taste testing.”

The warehouse facilities at Allergies & Me hold several hand-picked varieties of common foods tailored to those with special dietary needs, such as baking ingredients, cereals, condiments, pizzas, soups and sauces.

The navigation bar on the Web site links to a range of products marketed as dairy-free, egg-free, gluten- and wheat-free, peanut-free, soy-free, tree nut-free, kosher, organic, salt-free, yeast-free, cholesterol-free, vegetarian and vegan. Visitors to the site can order these products directly and find recipes that take food allergies into account.

For owner Jamie Stern, the inspiration for the site came from Jack, “the child of [his] best friends [suffering] from multiple food allergies,” according to the Web site’s About Us section.

“After watching them struggle with finding food and necessary items to keep him safe and healthy, we just knew there had to be a better way,” Stern said. “This website is a ‘labor of love’ that came from that decision and is an ongoing effort to help Jack, and others like him, with food allergies and food intolerance battles.”

To view the site, visit Allergiesandme.com.

Sources:

Allergies and Me. "About Us," http://www.allergiesandme.com/about; accessed 10 Aug. 2009.

Allergies and Me. "Helping Others," http://www.allergiesandme.com/helping-others; accessed 10 Aug. 2009.

PR Web. "New online solution for food allergy sufferers," http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009FoodAllergies/7FoodIntolerance/prweb2678044.htm; 4 Aug. 2009.

J. Stern to B. Hisey, August 12, 2009, "Allergies & Me product selection process," personal e-mail.