Little Buddy Gluten Free

[hoosier87]

I had a  reaction to one of their cookies (the Chocolate Chip) today.  I picked these up at the local Hyvee.  I'd never seen them before but since they took away the delicious Kneaded Specialties cakes, this was all in the way they had of stuff that was safe for nut-allergic folks like me.  I felt ill, my lips swelled up, and I broke out.  I didn't take the epi.  A benadryl seemed to cut it and I'm still itchy but better.  We have waited and I seem okay.

There is no packaging info for contacting them other than a random address that leads to nowhere.  My BF and I are really lost. The package said they were "nut free" but I am wondering if something else is going on.  I am TNA not PA although I avoid both and avoid all processed with/may contains.  It's so hard on my sweet tooth but it has helped keep me healthy.

Any thoughts?  I can't find anything about these cookies and at the very least I would like to let the company know that their product made me have a reaction as an FYI.  I ate nothing out of the ordinary and subsisted on leftovers today, so I know it wasn't something else.  It happened right after eating about 1/4 of a cookie.

Any info would be helpful.  Thanks!

[twinturbo]

I don't know anything about the company and I can't find anything online about them only the owner's LinkedIn profile but my thoughts are if they are not contaminated during manufacturing maybe it's contaminated chips if they get them from another manufacturer. Either way send the rest of the package off for testing since you have an isolated list.

Nut free to them might mean we didn't put any nut ingredients in it, we don't batch test, we don't check suppliers, etc. Or it's a mistake. Either way that sure sounds like contaminated to me and it could be for others, too.

[hoosier87]

Thanks.

Still feel the effects from yesterday.  Will call the allergist (who is 8 hours away) if I still don't feel better by tomorrow. 

I'm alive and well, though.  Got ahold of Hy-Vee who stated that the facility should be gluten free but no mention of nut free or how they source materials.  They actually have REALLY great info on their suppliers, though, so kudos.  They called the company, as did I.  Once I got the contact info, I called the owner/sales rep and had a really good talk with him.  He will be stopping by our local stores this week so I'm going to drop off the questionable cookies.  He says they source most of their chocolate from a nut-free facility in Canada but sometimes get overwhelmed and source with other people.  He wants to ensure that if that is what happened with this batch, that the chips they are using are nut-free and safe.

He will send the sample off for testing.  If he is telling the truth, I feel like this was some sort of bad accident and a supplier is probably lying to him.  He says they do test periodically for all things (including nuts) with a lab out of Chicago.  He has agreed to share those results.

I keep going back through to see what else it could have been but the reaction was too strong and too perfect for it to be just about anything else.  I ate the cookies late in the evening well after my dinner, for example.

I do feel good about the response I got, though.  Even if it was the cookies, they are doing everything they can to make it right (HyVee agreed to sub a higher-priced food from a future shipment of cake for the cookies).