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Mother stirs truth into the claim "made with love" Date published: 10/10/2006
YOU'VE DOUBTLESS This notion isn't just a cute sentiment to Lori Sandler. Benjamin, the youngest of her three sons, was born with life-threatening allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk, sesame seeds and shellfish. He lived on specialized baby formula until he was 18 months old, and his first birthday cake was shaved ice with a candle on top. Back then, Benjamin, who's now 8, had no way of knowing that his diet was different from other people's. But when he got older--say, age 3 or 4--he felt excluded. If he was at a birthday party, he'd be the only one who couldn't eat the cake. In kindergarten, he could eat only at tables designated as "peanut-free." On Halloween, his parents would have to play a well-meaning "trick" so he could get treats he could eat. They would run ahead of him to each house on the trick-or-treating path and give the homeowner sweets that they could hand to Benjamin. "Nothing ever is spontaneous when you have food allergies," Lori Sandler told me. It was through these experiences that Sandler, who lives in New York state with her family, realized what a social activity eating can be. So she set out to even the score, to make allergen-free foods that her son could eat. "I started making these amazing chocolate-chip cookies just by luck," she said. She brought the cookies to school so Benjamin could actually nosh with his classmates, and, perhaps more importantly, so that he could share them. It occurred to this loving mother that she could expand this idea into a business so that others could benefit from what she learned. "Nobody should feel left out," Lori Sandler said. She spent the next eight months creating more recipes free of common allergens. A year and a half later, her company, Divvies (think "divvying up"), has its own allergen-free bakery in South Salem, N.Y., and a thriving business online at divvies.com. Sandler e-mailed me after I wrote a column recently about my son's problems with acid reflux. Reflux, however, is minor-league compared to the complexity of food allergies.
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
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