Bulla Family Dairy has made large-scale investments to enable production of an ice cream that's completely nut free.
Bulla's new Nut Free Ice Cream range, now in Woolworths, was developed after the dairy company found it was fielding a growing number of enquiries from families about products that “may contain traces of nuts”.
“We were at a stage, prior to Christmas last year, where we had to update packaging on a range of ice cream products with a nut allergen warning,” Bulla Frozen marketing and portfolio strategy manager Andrew Noisette explains.
“Our products hadn't carried that warning before, so we got a lot of enquiries by affected families.”
As a result, Bulls consulted Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia to help it quantify the market opportunity to develop a completely nut-free product.
“There's a big difference between saying 'may contain traces of nuts or peanuts' to saying 'nut free', and we wanted to be able to be able to offer an ice cream that was guaranteed nut-free,” Noisette says.
“This meant going back to our suppliers to ensure absolutely nothing contained traces of nuts, with every single product batch-tested.
“Nut allergens are different to gluten – it's a life or death issue, and we have to take it seriously and ensure there are correct procedures around supply, ingredients, and the factory.”
Education of the factory staff has been underway, and nuts have been banned from the site.
“We've been working with everyone from our suppliers through to warehouse staff,” Noisette says.
“We are also producing the ice cream at a separate factory in Mulgrave.”
The entire factory facility is dedicated to the production of Nut Free Ice Cream, and a committed testing system has been implemented to analyse incoming ingredients and finished products during all phases of the production process.
Bulla has also employed a group of staff and suppliers who are educated on the quality and safety of the products produced in their nut-free facility.
The nut-free ice cream is available in vanilla in two-litre tubs, and is made with fresh milk and cream. It is also gluten-free. It is currently available nationally at selected Woolworths, Metcash and independent supermarkets for a recommended retail price of $6.99.
Possible cure for peanut reactions
A Melbourne-made treatment that's providing a long-term cure for children with a deadly peanut allergy may soon be widely available. The experimental peanut-probiotic treatment led to 82 per cent of children who participated successfully being able to eat peanuts. Now, four years later, 80 per cent of those cured children are still eating peanuts. The treatment combines a small amount of peanut flour with a very high dose of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus. This bacterium, commonly found in small doses in yoghurt, is a known immune system modulator – it calms the immune system's response to things it would normally react to, reducing the severity of allergic reactions. Paired together, the probiotic mix encourages the immune system to gradually tolerate larger and larger doses of peanut flour. The institute will now work with a venture capital firm to fund the commercialisation of a treatment, which would involve doses of powder taken every day for 18 months.
