Allergy Free - Did You Know Products -1

Did you know that all of the sweet wrappers pictured here are free of at least one common food allergen? The majority of this selection can be found in health food stores but the amount of i.e. dairy free products available in Ireland are plentiful and you can almost always russle up something in even the smallest of shop if you need to.
I'm going to try to bring a bi-weekly assortment of allergy-free products to help widen your horizons when the nibbles need some soothing - but remember to keep an eye on the ingredients list because manufacturing practices can change at any given time and without any notice - but you probably already know that ...

nakd. bars*
There are four or more flavours and all are as healthy as a bar can get. Almost all health food shops and some gourmet grocers sell them and the general going price is about €1.50 for the smaller size. All of the nakd. range are raw wholefoods and advertise as cold-pressed, never baked with no added sugar or syrups AND they contribute to one of your five a day! There are nuts in all of the products but the three pictured bars (pecan pie, cashew cookie and ginger bread) do not contain peanuts as well as being:
- dairy free
- gluten free
- wheat free
- sugar free
- egg free
- soya free
- vegan
- vegetarian
- raw

Pandora Bell Nougat Bars**
Irish made and AMAZING! Stockists of the Pandora Bell line are selected The Butler's Pantry stores, Donnybrook Fair (Morehampton Rd & Baggot St), Fallon & Byrne (Exchequer St), Foodware Store (Malahide), Fresh The Good Food Markets (Grand Canal, Camden St & Smithfield), Gourmet Food Parlour (Grange, Swords & Dun Laoghaire), Kennedys (Fairview), Morton's of Ranelagh, Nolan's of Clontarf, The Gourmet Store (Rathgar), Weir Interiors (Lucan), and Wilde and Green (Milltown Rd).
Pandora Bell's Nougat bars are made according to a traditional Italian recipe and they really are the bees knees. Soft, creamy, rich and intricate. I was a huge nougat fan before I discovered my egg allergy (doh!) and when the easter bunny brought Pandora Bell to the house an amazing choir of angels opened the roof and shone light into the living room in a way that only food angels can do. There are four different flavours but I can personally vouch for the Honey and Hazelnut Nougat and the Coffee Nougat with Hazelnuts both in a Chocolate Coating. The bad news is that even heaven has an entry fee and its about €7.95 but there is a lot of bang for that buck!
- gluten free
- wheat free
- vegetarian
- no dairy ingredients but there is a 'may contain traces of milk protein & derivatives' warning.

Gold Coffee Beans
Available in some Holland & Barrett stores. When I brought these Gold Coffee Beans into work my Irish colleagues looked at me oddly. Some liked them, some didn't, some wouldn't try them. I didn't see anything strange about them because chocolate coated coffee beans are quite popular in North Amercia but i would advise a true love of coffee before indulging - my sister is a huge fan of both coffee and the chocolate coated beans. This Neal's Yard variety is quite pretty with a gold sparkly exterior and is:
- dairy free
- wheat free
- gluten free
- vegetarian

9 Bar Original*
These sturdy but sweet little bars, coming over from Wales are one of the more staple bars available on the Irish health food store track. Original, Organic, Nutty, Pumpkin and Flax are the five varieties available. They are basically a seed bar featuring hemp and are covered in a sweet carob topping (the pumpkin bar is the only one without carob). Most health food shops stock them and in addition to being free from preservatives and artificial colours they are:
- dairy free
- wheat free
- gluten free
- egg free
- yeast free
- chocolate free

Mulu Raw Chocolate*
As is the case with all raw chocolate, Mulu is pricey. For a 74g box you're looking at over €3 at the least but its one of the VERY few chocolates available which are dairy free AND soya free. (soya lecithin has become the bane of my life!). I'm not a huge fan of raw chocolate but I appreciate what they are offering and the Mulu Silk is
definitely a nice smooth texture in the mouth. The three varieties available are Silk, Dark and Dark with Raw Cacao Nibs and they can be found in the Nourish health food shops as well as Rathmines' Hopsack located in the Swan Centre.
- dairy free
- wheat free
- gluten free
- sugar free
- soya free
- egg free
- vegan
- vegetarian
- raw

Pulsin' Coffee Brownie
Once you can clear your preconceived notions of a traditional brownie you will be ready for the Pulsin' Coffee Brownie. Again, this is a raw product which seems to always mean expensive for the size but it's a genuine healthy sugar free option for those in the market. They are almost always in stock at the Good Earth (South Great George's St) and can be located in other health food shops around Dublin such as 'The Health Store' chain, Restore (Camden St), Nourish (Wicklow St), and gourmet shops Listons (Camden St) & Country Cellar (Dun Laoghaire). There are 7 varieties available. Not all have the same 'free from' list but all are raw, with no added sugar and non GM.
- dairy free
- gluten free
- wheat free
- soya free
- egg free
- sugar free
- vegetarian
- vegan
- raw

Oskri Jalow Bar
I'm not too sure how to pronounce any part of this one except for maybe 'bar' but other than that it is an au natural option. I found Oskri in Holland & Barrett but from what I can see they are yet to become popular in Ireland. The website contains the ingredients on all the products and you can easily see there are no hidden extras. Regarding sugar contents the usage is limited to Date Syrup, Rice Syrup, and in a very few occasions Honey and Molasses. The Oskri Jalow Bar that I tried was 'Almonds and Cranberries' and seriously, the ingredients list was: Chicory Root extract (inulin), Almonds, Cranberries, Rice Syrup, Amaranth, Buck Wheat and Pumpkin Seeds.
- dairy free
- wheat free
- gluten free
- egg free
- gluten
- vegan (except for the products containing honey)

Panda Licorice**
Panda Licorice has been a favourite since childhood. It has been my experience that you either like licorice or you hate it. Fortunately for my upbringing it was always in the love category right across the family. There are different flavours like original, cherry, lemon, mint and raspberry available but the original will always be the one with a place in my heart. Obviously I can't eat it any more since my food allergy test but the memories are there forever (twee!) and once I get over the first few months I will hopefully be able to reintroduce the wheat and gluten on a rotational basis. But thats enough about me, more about Panda: You can buy them in sticks, packs of sticks, bags of smaller pieces or in bags of candy coated licorice nibs. The recipe is fairly basic with no preservatives, artificial colours or flavourings. All the original flavour contains is Molasses Syrup, Wheat Flour, Licorice Extract and Aniseed Oil. They are affordable and available in Holland & Barretts, Tesco, Boots and Nourish stores at least!
p.s. check out the website because the music is too much fun :) http://www.pandalicorice.com/uk/
- dairy free
- egg free
- nut free
- vegetarian
- vegan

Ombar Superfood Chocolate
Another Organic and Raw option at a not so typically raw chocolate price is Ombar. They are a relatively new company coming from the UK. I tried the Cashew & Coconut which didn't really taste of coconut but it's an OK option if you are very restricted. So far I have only seen them in a few health food shops but considering their age on the market they will probably slowly appear in more shops given time.
- dairy free
- wheat freejavascript:void(0)
- gluten free
- soya free
- sugar free
- vegetarian
- vegan
- raw

* = good and tasty
** = best in the west! - or indeed ALL of Ireland ;)