Eleni’s Nut Free Bakery
Commitment
From dough to door, every cookie that leaves our bakery is held to the highest standards of safety and quality control throughout every stage of production. In 2009 we decided to go entirely nut free. We had a retail store at the time on Madison Avenue and 90th street, and that is home to many elementary schools in New York City. Many of our customers suggested we go nut free, had children with severe allergies, coupled with the news that the local schools could not allow our cookies as snacks, if they contained nuts.
It was an easy decision to make, yet a very difficult, time consuming, detail demanding and expensive practice to uphold. It is the best decision we have ever made. And it makes so many people so incredibly happy to be able to enjoy our cookies when before they could not.
WHY WE’RE NUT FREE
The rate of peanut allergies in children has more than tripled since 1997. Between 2007 and 2021, the rate of food allergies in children increased by 50%. We are nut free for our customers. We like being able to bring dessert to a buffet, family gathering, school event, home pantry, or tailgate and just know that more people can enjoy. Life is complicated enough, dessert shouldn’t be. Simply great cookies, simply nut free, simple rules to follow.
-Eleni
WE’RE TRULY NUT FREE
(NOT EVEN A TRACE OF NUTS)
There’s a BIG difference between producing a nut free cookie and making a commitment to bake cookies in nut free bakery environments with a strict code of standards to ensure there is no cross-contamination with nut proteins. Our decorative shaped sugar cookies, which we nicknamed Conversation Cookies, are made in our bakery which is entirely nut free. This bakery is 100% nut free. If you are buying or receiving a shaped hand decorated cookie, you are 100% safe to enjoy.
Lots of companies claim to make products free from nuts, but they will often produce these products in the same factory as products that do contain nuts. This is a common practice in the USA and we do make our crisp cookies in the most excellent factory, that does process nuts. However after cleaning, designated personnel must verify the cleaning using an allergen swab test. Strict adherence is followed for Good manufacturing Practices. Strict adherence to sanitation practices and policies, Inspections are conducted on equipment, utensils, and production lines after sanitation clean-ups. No allergen product is run on the equipment used to make our cookiest.
While our crisp cookies packages found nationwide at Sprouts Farmers Market, Gelson’s in CA, Central Market in TX, Whole Foods in New York City, QVC, and Home Goods, does not say “may contain nuts” or “made in a factory that also processes peanuts” which you see written on some of your other favorite brand’s packaging. What we can tell you is that we take allergen care very very seriously, and our every day line of crisp cookies, are 100% nut free, low calorie, Kosher, almost as good as home made.
FREE FROM TREE-NUTS, PEANUTS AND NUT OILS
Nut allergies are usually defined as a peanut allergy and tree nut allergy, but at Eleni’s we’ve gone the extra mile in our pursuit of being 100% free from nuts. You’ll simply not find any of the following ingredients in our bakeries, process or products:
PEANUTS:
while technically a part of the legume family, consumption of them is the most common cause of food related deaths, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
TREE NUTS:
including walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, pistachios and brazil nuts
NUT OILS:
walnut oil, almond oil, peanut oil, pine nut oil and macadamia nut oil
FARE: FOOD ALLERGY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
FARE’s mission is to improve the quality of life and the health of individuals with food allergies, and to provide them hope through the promise of new treatments. foodallergy.org.
-Eleni
NUT FREE FROM DOUGH TO DOOR
It was 2009 when Eleni decided to make her bakery entirely nut free to better cater to schools, kids, and parents. It was no small undertaking but…go big or go home, right?
It took us time and a lot of work: we vetted all vendors and products, updated all packaging, got rid of all photography that still featured our old nutty treats, like Walnut Brownie or the Coconut Pecan Blondie. The bakery, in hindsight, was almost easier to transition than all the paperwork. As our business grew, we’ve kept this promise top of mind and developed a strict code of standards, policies, and training to ensure that our bakeries and baking partners stick to their nut-free policy. Flashforward to today where we are proudly serving only nut-free baked goodies. Tasty and safe for all.
1 SOURCING INGREDIENTS
We only source ingredients from suppliers that can provide robust assurances that they’ve been processed in facilities that are nut-free using nut-free equipment. We require confirmation of that from each and every supplier.
2 SELECTING TRUSTED BAKING PARTNERS
Each of our baking partners is required to ensure us formally that there are no peanuts, tree nuts, seeds or nut oil present in any part of their supply chains, as well as, proof of frequent sanitation and segregation policies, which ensure for proper, frequent sanitation and segregation of any other allergens that may be present.
3 NUTS NOT WELCOME
Nuts in any form are banned from our baking partner’s factories, this includes visitor areas, employee common areas, and production rooms (you couldn’t even bring in a PB&J sandwich into the facility). Posted signage, employee education on our allergen program and sanitation requirements provide the highest level of allergen control. We know that an allergic reaction may be produced by even the most minute contamination, which is why we take every precaution to provide a safe nut-free environment for our products.
4 EXTERNAL INSPECTIONS
Our chocolate-chip baking partners are annually audited by a third party, to check food safety, environmental and quality management systems and are BRC certified with the highest grade – a double A.
When kids are miles from home, there’s nothing sweeter than a care package filled with their favorite goodies! We know it can be a real challenge finding a delicious snack that can be shared safely in the bunk or in the playground. However, many schools and summer camps are now nut-free zones, so often times the cookies that parents send inevitably end up in the trash because they aren’t ‘nut free.’ That’s a shame, but we can help you save the day (and the cookies); Eleni’s cookies are good for all, at anyplace, and at anytime.
JENNIFER“My daughter has a severe peanut allergy and we are now actually able to go to a bakery thanks to Eleni’s no-nuts policy. I really appreciate your support of food allergies.”
Author“My daughter has a severe peanut allergy and we are now actually able to go to a bakery thanks to Eleni’s no-nuts policy. I really appreciate your support of food allergies.”
Author“My daughter has a severe peanut allergy and we are now actually able to go to a bakery thanks to Eleni’s no-nuts policy. I really appreciate your support of food allergies.”
Author“My daughter has a severe peanut allergy and we are now actually able to go to a bakery thanks to Eleni’s no-nuts policy. I really appreciate your support of food allergies.”
Author“My daughter has a severe peanut allergy and we are now actually able to go to a bakery thanks to Eleni’s no-nuts policy. I really appreciate your support of food allergies.”
You don't need nuts to make crazy-good cookies.
ASK US ALL ABOUT IT
If you have any questions or concerns about our baking production process, please get in touch, or visit our Frequently Asked Questions, where you’ll find more information on the behind-the-scenes of Eleni’s baking facilities. .
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