Free-from snacking - allergen free snacks

Snacking has been a conflicted part of life over the past 20 years. Magazines and newspapers told us not to snack as it would make you gain weight, and sticking to three meals a day, or sometimes even skipping breakfast, was the best way to go.

Things have moved strides and there is little emphasis on weight loss but more so on health and wellness. A focus on reducing sugar, maintaining consistent energy levels and encouragement on exercise to make you feel good.

In order to do that, three balanced meals are important (breakfast absolutely being one of those!) with snacks being the comeback kid.

In fact, the global healthy snacks market is projected to reach $108.11 billion by 2027.

Not only do these healthy snacks look at lower sugar, lower carbs, higher protein, gluten free, but there are snacks that cater for specific needs.

One brand doing just that is Creative Nature and they are in fact free from all of the top 14 allergens! Yes, we couldn’t actually name them all either.

We’ve got:
Cereals containing gluten, Celery, Eggs, Peanuts, Sesame Seeds, Soya, Sulphur Dioxide, Lupin, Crustaceans, Milk, Molluscs, Nuts, Mustard

Creative Nature wanted to ensure they were free from all the top allergens but not from taste and therefore using the highest quality ingredients was important instead of making the cheapest bar.

The journey:

Julianne Ponan has been key in developing the Creative Nature range and has a personal connection to the brand with anaphylaxis. Julianne is allergic to all peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds, chickpeas and lentils. It makes snacking on the go and finding a cake without containing nuts difficult.

Julianne remembers there being an ‘allergy table’ at one of her schools which she had to sit on by herself as the only allergy sufferer. Feeling segregated over something she had no choice over had a big impact on her life.

Creative Nature was created through a frustration and desire for no-one to have to feel segregated at the allergy table, but instead have a food that brings people together, no matter their dietary requirement. This is why they decided to create their products free from all the Top 14 Allergens without compromising flavour - enabling everyone to sit around the same table.

The range:

Creative Nature launched with the single ingredients superfoods. Next came the snack bars which incorporated some of those superfoods such as cacao powder and maca powder to boost the nutrient content.

Last year came the ground breaking HazelNOT Gnawbles (the September JOMO Box accompaniment to members’ cocktails!) which were hailed on social media as the vegan love- child of Maltesers and Ferrero Rocher.

Some of you will have had the pleasure of enjoying the Gnawbles in the September Box, but if you haven’t yet tried them, you can head over to Creative Nature’s website here to explore get your own stash! You can also find them in Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrisons, Co-op, Ocado and Wholefoods.