Son’s Food Allergies Inspire Mom’s Business Venture

By Lynn Yeager

“Your son has autism.” Those words changed our lives, who we were, what westood for, and introduced us to a whole different world that we never knew existed. At that time, my husband nor I had any idea what that diagnosis would mean for our son, or for us, for that matter. We approached autism as two warriors on a mission. We found the best schools, therapists, doctors, and treatments available for our son. We knew that it would be our privilege to help our son be the best he could be and reach his own personal potential.

Early on, we figured out that Jacob had allergic reactions to foods. It started one Christmas when I was baking holiday treats. Every time I would pull out the nuts, Jacob would break out into hives. We also battled skin rashes and eczema that never seemed to go away. We would give him an antihistamine in the morning, another at night, and rub him down with steroid cream, but nothing really seemed to control the issue.

Once we really started working with our DAN! (Defeat Autism Now!) doctor and truly looking at Jacob’s blood, food sensitivities, metal levels, and nutrient deficiencies, we were finally able to start unraveling the mystery. We could control Jacob’s allergic reactions by eliminating certain foods. We eliminated gluten, casein, tree nuts, soy, and artificial flavorings and colorings. Soon after, we were able to eliminate the antihistamines and steroid creams because the eczema, hives and rashes were under control.

I never would have dreamed that food was responsible for a large part of our son’s misery. No wonder he couldn’t concentrate in the classroom or therapies—he itched uncontrollably. It also affected his sleeping patterns, because he would wake up itching and then not be able to go back to sleep so he was cranky on top of it all! It was a rough year for our entire household!

Now, we rarely have reactions to food, unless an ingredient somehow found it’s way into his diet. His school and teachers are very understanding and do not allow him to eat anything unless I send it from home. They also keep and arsenal of goodies in the cabinets and freezer so that Jacob is never left out when they are having special celebrations.

After our struggles with food allergies, one of my coworkers suggested that we create a business that would cater to parents and children in similar situations with special dietary needs. Our 7^th and 8^th grade students were eager to taste test our recipes, and we finally were able to fool them with our gluten and casein free chocolate chip cookie when compared to a traditional wheat based recipe. We started selling our frozen cookie dough to a small local natural foods store and then Whole Foods Markets discovered us! Since then, we have expanded into all of the Florida Whole Foods Markets, and even opened a gluten, casein, and nut free bakery in Jacksonville. We have plans to expand our bakery into other areas in Florida based on the overwhelming success we have experienced in Jacksonville.

All of this is because of a small boy that I call the light of my life. And…because of him, I decided to undergo food allergy and sensitivity testing. Guess who is now gluten and casein free among other things as well?