Takeout for special diets

A Raleigh woman creates a kitchen that offers dishes free of problem ingredients

Four years ago Rose Waring took her 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter to the doctor's office. They were suffering from rashes, lethargy, headaches and stomachaches.

She learned from the doctor that certain foods were to blame. Between her two children, they were allergic to wheat, corn, eggs, dairy, nuts and soy.

As Waring walked out of the doctor's office, she recalls thinking, "Oh, my God, what am I going to feed these children?"

Waring, who moved to Raleigh from Dallas six years ago, had to quit working part time at her husband's television production company and figure out how and what to cook for her children. She began scouring food labels looking for hidden dangers, and she struggled to pack lunches and make dinners without those banned foods.

As Waring gradually learned to cope, she says, "I just kept thinking there's a business to be had here. I want to help people not go through what I went through."

About a month ago Waring, 49, opened Rosie's Plate, a gluten-free, peanut-free, shellfish-free kitchen offering order-ahead menu items in downtown Raleigh.

Her customers are struggling with either common food allergies or celiac disease, an autoimmune intestinal disorder triggered by eating gluten, the protein found in wheat and other grains.

One in 133 Americans suffers from celiac disease, according to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. In addition, an estimated 12 million Americans have food allergies, or one of every 25 people, according to the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network. More than 90 percent of food allergies are caused by wheat/gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts and tree nuts. Plus, food allergies appear to be on the rise. Peanut allergies among children doubled between 1997 and 2002.

Reformulating menus

Waring is part of an increasing trend in the food industry. Among companies catering to those with special dietary needs are General Mills, which reformulated Rice Chex to be gluten-free; the Girl Scouts, which sell three kinds of milk-free cookies; and Kellogg's, which now makes Pop-Tarts in nut-free factories. Carrabba's Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill offer gluten-free menu items.

In the Triangle, Whole Foods stores began labeling every gluten-free product with shelf tags within the last month, according to spokeswoman Teresa Jones. Since 2004, Whole Foods has operated a gluten-free bakery in Morrisville that makes baked goods for all the company's U.S. stores.

Market research shows there is only more money to be made by catering to those dealing with celiac disease and other food allergies. The gluten-free food and drink market is projected to reach $1.7 billion by 2010, up from $696 million in 2006, according to Packaged Facts, a market research firm based in New York.

The customers Waring and other such business owners want to reach include:

Rebecca Fernandez, 25, of Raleigh, whose 22-month-old son, Malachy, is allergic to milk and gluten. "He screamed nonstop from birth to 7 months old," Fernandez says. She didn't realize what was wrong until after doctors put him on a special formula. She stopped drinking milk herself since she was still breast-feeding. Within 36 hours, she says, Malachy was "a completely different kid."

Fernandez says her son also suffers from gluten intolerance. Once she switched him to a gluten-free diet at 13 months old, she says Malachy has become more outgoing and less withdrawn.

Or Natalie Naramor, 26, of North Raleigh, who for 10 years suffered from unexplained hives. Doctors finally connected the timing of her hives to gluten consumption. Now Naramor writes a blog called glutenfreemommy.com on which she keeps a recipe diary. Naramor, who has two children under 3, was excited to hear about Rosie's Plate.