FOMO Baking Co. – No More “Fear of Missing Out” on Dessert
A decade ago I was diagnosed with celiac disease, right around the same time that my sister Lauren was diagnosed with Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) reactive to eggs and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Over the past decade, we both spent countless holidays, birthdays, special occasions and family celebrations watching everyone else enjoy delicious desserts while we watched with envious eyes and with the feeling of being left out. Every once in a while, we would gain access to a gluten free tor vegan treat, but often would be, once again, feeling left out because these treats just never tasted “real”. More importantly and more often than not, these desserts were not properly marked with the allergen-free demarcations and there was no way for us to know if they were created in a way that would be safe for us to enjoy.
There has been a dietary “trend” of gluten-free eating and a growing popularity of avoiding major allergens by a non-allergic audience, which has been great for awareness and has improved the accessibility to allergen-free foods. With this awareness and the increase of “allergen-free” foods, there has also been an increase in exposure to illness due to cross-contamination. Food items that are labeled as “gluten free” or “vegan” are often made in shared kitchens that do not have the protocols in place to ensure safe products.
Because the “trend” eaters don’t require true allergen-free foods, food producers have cut corners, not only resulting in allergens being prevalent in products, but in trend eaters being duped into eating the very ingredients they’re trying to avoid.
fter countless phone calls and hours of research, we decided that this was something we could no longer avoid – we had to jump in and create a gluten-free, vegan bakery that would not only produce treats that would be safe to eat, but treats that would also be delicious and appeal to the trend eaters who have helped popularize our cause. We decided that we wanted to be as inclusive as possible; not only catering to those who could not (or chose not to) eat gluten or eggs, but all of the major allergens as defined by the FDA, plus sesame.
FOMO Baking Co. does not use any ingredients that contain gluten, dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy or sesame. We also don’t use any artificial colors or flavors – all of our ingredients are real ingredients our customers can pronounce (and likely have in their own kitchens!) Furthermore, we have received certification from all of our suppliers that their ingredients are certified gluten-free where applicable, and made or processed in a dedicated facility or on a dedicated line away free of the FDA major allergens (gluten, dairy, egg, peanuts, tree nuts and soy).
While we are working feverishly on creating more products, we have initially launched with five flavors of cookie bites, brownie bites and various options for cookie cakes. The cookie bites come in chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, oatmeal chocolate chip, sugar and snickerdoodle flavors.
Since our launch in November, we have received wonderful feedback from customers, both with and without allergies. While the non-allergic audience base is incredibly important to us and our cause, it is especially heartwarming to hear from parents whose children were able to eat desserts for the first time in their lives.
We created FOMO Baking Co. to be a safe space where people like us and so many others, suffering from allergies and other food intolerances, could safely enjoy a fun and delicious dessert – and no longer have the Fear Of Missing Out.
Visit FOMO Baking Co. online at www.fomobaking.com.
