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07/07/2008 09:21 AM

 

Local Grocer Goes Gluten-Free July 7, 2008 ECO staff – Laure Cioffi, Senior Journalist ELLWOOD CITY – When Rhonda Santoro learned earlier this year that her 5-year-old daughter, Lily, had severe food allergies, it completely changed her life. The entire family changed its eating habits to accommodate Lily’s needs cutting out food she was allergic too. Santoro started traveling to Pittsburgh and Cranberry to buy special ingredients for their food and even quit her full-time job in April to enable her the time to prepare all of the fresh and homemade foods. With the recent hike in gasoline prices and the loss of income from leaving her job, Santoro started looking locally for the food and ingredients she needs, but had a hard time finding them. “I can’t believe we are the only family who has to travel outside of town for these foods,” she said. She found a sympathetic ear at Loccisano’s Market, which will start carrying a larger line of gluten-free products later this month. Chris Kerns, store manager, said he met with Santoro a few weeks ago when she brought in a large bag of products she has been buying out of town. Kerns said the store had been carrying a limited amount of gluten-free products prior to his meeting with Santoro, but plans to add more. More products should start showing up on shelves in mid-July, he said. The store keeps its gluten-free products in the bread aisle. Kerns said the store will have gluten-free cake mixes, cookies, flour and other items. “I know a couple of families who are dealing with the same [health] problems. It takes a little more time for us to find these products, but we had the shelf space for it,” Kerns said. Santoro said she has already seen new products in the store and it’s helping cut down on her weekly trips to out-of-town food stores “Whatever they can do. It might be considered small, but to me it’s huge,” she said of the new products being ordered. Santoro explained that she prepares all of her daughter’s food at home. Lily was recently invited to a birthday party at Fun For All in Cranberry and Santoro learned that the menu included pizza and cake. Because of the child’s severe food allergies, Santoro decided to make her own gluten-free pizza and cupcake for her daughter to take to party. That day she found she was out of brown rice flower, a key ingredient. She had to travel to a Cranberry grocery store for the rice flower, then home again to bake and then again to Cranberry for the party. “It’s a huge money and time saver,” Santoro said of Loccisano’s willingness to increase its gluten-free section. Lily, who has a twin brother Jack and two older siblings, was diagnosed with severe food allergies in January. Her parents had her evaluated after she suffered an asthma attack last year and ended up in Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital. They later learned that she is allergic to beef, fish, peanuts, soy, dairy products, eggs and wheat. Lily has suffered digestive problems since starting solid foods as a toddler, her mother said. “Once we took those foods out of her diet, she didn’t have any more asthma attacks. She is much healthier,” Santoro said. Lily’s current diet mainly consists of chicken, turkey and fresh fruits and vegetables. Santoro is hoping others who suffer from food allergies will shop at Loccisano’s and that will encourage the store to keep more gluten-free products on the shelves.