Nut free cakes provide a solution for children with nut allergies

A range of nut free celebration cakes have been launched in the UK to provide a solution for parents of children with nut allergies.

Sainsbury's has signed an exclusive 12-week deal with a new south Wales-based baker that produces goods for nut allergy sufferers.

Set up by a father of two children with nut allergies, The Just Love Food Company has launched a range of children’s celebration cakes in more than 200 Sainsbury's stores nationwide.

Mike Woods, managing director of The Just Love Food Company, said: “Since my children were diagnosed with severe nut allergies in 2001, I have struggled to find suitable food products on the market dedicated to nut allergy sufferers. My wife and I found it particularly difficult when it came to sourcing birthday cakes as all supermarket birthday cakes carry warnings that make the products ‘not suitable for nut allergy sufferers’. Faced with this ongoing battle and equipped with over 20 years experience in the food industry, I decided last year that it was time to put it right. The Just Love Food Company has been set up to provide a food solution to nut allergy sufferers.”

The move is part of a push by Sainsbury’s to develop its free-from offering. Philippa Brightman, Special Diets and Health Manager at Sainsburys, said: “Our vision is to be the retailer of choice for customers suffering from allergies or intolerances. It is a pleasure working with such a passionate supplier, committed to our shared ambition of helping to make customers’ lives easier. This is a very exciting step towards achieving that goal - the launch of these delicious cakes will hopefully help to solve an issue for many parents across the UK.”

Mr Woods added: “Like us, Sainsburys can see a gap in the market for the supply of nut-free products and can see our vision of making fabulous food products that provide solutions for those with allergies. We don’t believe it should be a fabulous product or a product that suits those with allergies. We believe we should make delicious food that allergy sufferers and food lovers alike can enjoy.

“We take great care in developing our recipes so that our products taste great. We make them in our own nut safe environment from carefully sourced ingredients, we never compromise on taste and while we develop our products with nut allergy sufferers in mind, our products taste so great consumers would never know they were any different.”

The Just Love Food Company is working with suppliers from across the UK, who have been chosen due to their commitment to manufacturing its ingredients in an area that does not handle nuts and abiding by The Just Love Food Company’s nut safe promise.

Continued Mr Woods: “We know that even the smallest trace of nut contamination can have a detrimental effect and have therefore taken every possible step to make sure our products are the safest on the market.

“We have searched the breadth of the UK to find suppliers who meet our requirements and acknowledge our nut safe promise. By working closely with our suppliers we have been able to ensure all of our ingredients are manufactured in an environment that does not handle nuts. We visit them and test the ingredients regularly to satisfy ourselves that the ingredients are safe to be used in our cakes.”

The cakes come in two varieties – the Sparkly Princess cake for girls and the Monster cake for boys. Both retail in Sainbury’s at £8.99. For more information visit www.justlovefoodcompany.co.uk