Warning About Pure Almond Extract And Nutmeg
Decorating By JodieF Updated 29 Jan 2007 , 5:31pm by susanscakebabies
This is just an FYI for everyone. If someone has a nut allergy, eating a cake made with Pure Almond Extract (or Nutmeg) could cause a life threatening reaction. There are many, many people with food allergies. I'm not trying to lecture, believe me. It wasn't until I made a good friend 9 years ago who suffers from a severe nut allergy that I was made aware of it. It's totally changed the way I bake.
I NEVER use pure Almond Extract or Nutmeg when I'm making a cake anymore, unless I have absolute knowledge of who is going to be eating it. It is completely safe to use artificial Almond Extract. But, to be safe, I stick with Vanilla!
Maybe I'm crazy, but don't all the mixes say may contain nuts? Just because you don't use an extract doesn't mean things are nut free.
Thanks for the warning...I never even thought of that (but then again I'm blonde-hehehe). I have a cousin who is allergic to nuts and when I know they are going to be at a gathering I always make sure to allow myself plenty of time to scratch bake.
Pam
As far as the labeling on cake mixes please see below article. Peanuts and tree nuts are labeled independently now.
And as a friend of people with allergic children...just scratch baking is not enough if the allergy is serious. The pans and mixing materials need to be sterilized (dishwasher) as well. And I won't even go into proper hand cleanliness. If you take on an allergy free cake, please do research on proper handling.
The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA), which took effect
January 1, 2006, mandates that foods containing milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, and soy must declare the food in plain language on the ingredient list or via:
the word Contains followed by the name of the major food allergen (milk, wheat, or eggs for example);
or
a parenthetical statement in the list of ingredients, e.g., albumin (egg).
Such ingredients must be listed even if they are present in colors, flavors, or spice blends.
Additionally, manufacturers must list the specific nut or seafood that is used (e.g., almond, walnut, cashew; or tuna, salmon, shrimp, or lobster). While more than 160 foods have been identified as causing allergic reactions, the eight foods listed above cause 90% of food-allergic reactions.
FALCPA will certainly make label-reading easier for the millions of Americans living with food allergies. Keep in mind, however, that the law only applies to products labeled on or after January 1, 2006; depending on a products shelf life, it may take up to a year before all products list ingredients in simple language. Until then, continue to read all labels carefully and be on the lookout for scientific terms (i.e., casein for milk, or albumin for egg).
Thanks
Julia
Just want to offer a different opinion: I make my desserts as I always do and would NEVER guarantee them to be free of anything. It's a dangerous proposition unless you're absolutely positive your kitchen is nut/gluten/dairy/or whatever free. I do not make cakes suitable for people with severe food allergies. Anyone who has such a severe reaction needs to be careful what they eat and it is not my responsibility to alter my recipes to suit them.
For those of you who do offer these alternatives, Kudos to you! But for most people baking from home you need to be very careful about the claims you make.
Obviously it's up to the person who has allergies to be very careful about what they eat. I am severely allergic to seafood, and, even though I hate making a big deal about it, I have to let my servers know when I eat out. I carry my Epi-pen with me at all times. I don't eat anything when I don't know what's in it.
I just brought this up because there is so much enthusiasm for the White Almond Sour Cream cake (which is delicious!). Most people don't ever think about allergies and how something as simple as an extract could affect people. It's not the responsibility of the baker to prevent a bad reaction, but maybe when they make a cake with almond extract they could be sure it's known?
With every cake I make I have a label and tell them in person. Please, if anyone has a peanut allergy it is strongly recommended they not consume this product.
I may not have used nuts but I can't be 100% sure it hasn't been contaminated. I rarely use nuts of any kind, I just worry that my supplies may have come in contact with them when I did. I may be overly cautious, and maybe I wouldn't be if it wasn't so close to home.
I have a neice that has a peanut allergy. I always had her parents bring her own food to my parties and they made her a personal cake from home or Brownies. They never wanted to take a chance and nor did I.
The slightest mistake can cost a life.
Just a small example, they can not eat M & M's. The factory may have ran M & M Peanuts on the line and switched over to Plain M & M's. Alto, the line may have been clean it is still dangerous.
Her father contacts companies to get information and spends a lot of time on the net. I do know the only cake mix that is safe for her is Betty Crocker.
She has been taught since she was a toddler that she is not to consume food without her parents approval. This is extremely dangeous.
You sometime see business have warning signs now. I know Dariy Queen does.
This may seem over kill but people die from this allergy.
Jodie,
I was thinking of making the Almond cake for a bride coming tomorrow for a tasting. Maybe now it's not a good idea.
You may know the answer to this, is Pistachio Cake ok?
Talk about feeling horrible. At my parties I always had bowls of peanuts on the bar. Didn't even think about Sarah's allergy. The parents never said anything they just kept her away from the bar area. It took several years before it hit me. What was I thinking or not thinking.
Don't beat yourself up! You can't possible be aware of everyone's situations, and if you don't have allergies (or know someone who does), there's really no reason it would occur to you! I'm sure if her parents were terribly concerned, they would have asked you not to put out the peanuts.
If you can any concern, make the cake with vanilla. It's an absolutely delicious recipe! Then you could tell the bride you could flavor it with almond if there are no allergies she knows about. 
Great post!! I have seen the Almond Sour Cream recipe and wanted to try it but have a son who has a peanut allergy (he doesn't have an almond allergy but have been told to avoid all nuts as a precaution) I've also seen people suggest adding almond extract in the frosting but again I have hesitated....I hate to tell a 4 year old he can't have my frosting!!! lol Thanks again for bringing up the subject to make people aware of at least warning people.
Jeanette...sorry I didn't answer about the Pistachio cake......
Again, those are nuts, so I'd check first! Believe me, anyone with a food allergy will tell you if they have one!
I've had 2 anaphylatic shock reactions.....they aren't fun in any way, shape or form.
When I worked for stone cold people had to state they had nut allergies, and the equipment had to be double washed and sanitized before we were able to serve the customer with allergies.
Or even go in the back and get new scoops!
when people come in and ask me for almond cake, in which I put handfuls of almonds, I tell them if they don't know all of their guests well, to pick something else!
I do the same with the berry fillings when I use them.
I don't sell cakes; it's my hobby for friends and family, but here's a horror story that just about made ME die! A co-worker (call him "Jim") asked me to make a surprise b-day cake for another co-worker (call her "Linda" ); the cake would be small, just for their department. Jim said that Linda was on a diet (to lose weight), so anything I could do with that in mind would be a bonus. I told Jim that I don't make diet cakes, but I said I'd see what I could do. The only sugar-free item I used was a sugar-free pudding mix for the filling; I told Jim about this so that he could tell Linda. A few days later, Linda told me that the cake was the best sugar-free cake she had ever had! She took the left-overs home and gave some to her DIABETIC sister (since it was "sugar-free"!!!)!! Her sister went to town on that "sugar-free" cake!! OMG! I about died!! I told Linda that something got lost in the translation--it was not a sugar-free cake! Her sister could have died!!! From now on, I will list everything on a small sheet of paper next to the cake!!! I'm tempted to list all items that cause problems for people, even if I don't knowingly put them in the cake! (Examples: nuts, dairy, coconut, sugar, wheat.) I know what I use in my kitchen, but I don't know what the manufactuers use.
Oh, my goodness, how scary! I use almond extract on both my frostings and cake. I use artificial flavors.
I don't do cakes for a living just for family and friends but it will be a good thing to mention to the people that come to birthday parties and other gaatherings that I put almond extract in my cakes. Eventhough it is artificial flavoring, you can't never be too sure.
Yikes!
Most of my clients will bring up allergies if it's an issue, but I also make sure to ask if there are any special food requirements I need to know about. Since I do catering also, there are a lot more things my clients could be exposed to. However, again, they are very good about pointing out the special food needs. Had one maid of honor who could only eat Kraft brand Ranch Dressing. A groom who was allergic to soy (which actually became a good thing for me ... my supplier found a meatball that is 100% meat .... no soy at all. So now my standard meatball is a better quality than what I had!). I was doing a seminar for 100 college guys (breakfast, lunch and dinner for 3 days) and one of the instructors had a dairy allergy, so I had to make her scrambled eggs separate (I put milk in my scrambled eggs) and had to make her lunch sandwich separate (no cheese). All of this sure made me very aware of what so many people have to go thru on a daily basis.
Had one mother of the groom complain because my cheeseball didn't have nuts on it. (Sorry, honey, I don't make Walmart cheeseballs!) Until I (firmly) explained that I never put nuts in my cheeseballs due to potential nut allergies. (Her reply? "oh.")
That's a crazy story! Diabetic people won't die if they eat sugar though. It's not really good for them but it can be handled with extra insulin. So you don't have to feel too guilty!
I am with SweetAmber - I do NOT make any cakes (or anything) for folks with allergies ~ if they tell me they have them, I politely tell them I am sorry you'll need to go to someone else. I have enough stress in my life than to worry about those issues.
As a person with a food allergy I know how this feels. I remember as a little girl when my mom would make chocolate chip cookies, brownies, carrot cake, etc. she would often add walnuts or pecans because she loves them. I always complained becaused I didn't like them and would pick them out or just suffer and eat it anyway. It wasn't until I hit my teens that we learned there was a reason why I didn't like walnuts or pecans....turns out I'm highly allergic to both of them and hickory nuts. The neighborhood that I live in is full of walnut and pecan trees and come to find out when people were burning their leaves, the gases were causing me to breakout in huge reddish purple hives! And eating them just made it worse. The specialist told mom that I've probably always been allergic to them that it was more than likely dormant until I hit puberty. She felt so bad because all those years where I begged her to leave the nuts out of certain dishes and stuff. Needless to say after that, whenever she would make, for example, zucchini bread, I always got my own special loaf without the walnuts.
What's funny though is that while I'm allergic to certain nuts, I will still bake with them. My friends love my chocolate chip cookies with walnuts and I'll make it for them. I just make sure I'm extra careful in how I handle them and of course, I don't lick the bowl which makes my sister a happy camper!
It's too bad we have to worry so much about those things anymore. It should be the resposibility of the allergy sufferer to let you know or ask. But since we can't always bank on it, insurance is another good option, just dealing with the edible items in general. THat way you wont loose your whole business if some one wants to go after you for something like that. Just a thought.
I always advise people that it is eat my products at your own risk. If someone asks me for a nut free cake I tell them although I can make a cake with no nuts because I do use nuts in my kitchen I can't offer any gauntees. I'm usually turned down pretty quickly. If anyone did take one I'd make them sign a disclaimer and I'd put big labels on the boxes
So a thought on that. Do any of you include a little disclaimer with your cakes or do you just present them like any other store bakery. I think it is their responsibilitly to ask if it is not posted and there are allergies but with this sue happy world we live in is anyone safe guarding for that. Or do you just have insurance? I am just getting started with the whole bus. end so I have lots of Questions about that kind of stuff. Thanks for any help you want to share.
Did you just do up a standard form to include in all your orders?
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