That's a fantastic question. One our biggest issues with allergen free kitchens today is that we don't believe they're really taking into account all the ways they could unknowingly be offering contaminated food. At Starry Lane every single ingredient we use is sourced from suppliers that can provide us with official allergen statements that meet our stringent safety protocols. In the case of peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, rye, and barley, if any of those ingredients are present anywhere in the facility where our ingredient is being processed/packaged, we won't use it.

    If you'd like more information about the brands we use (you can never be too careful), we're happy to supply the name and contact number of our suppliers. Please email us at help@starrylanebakery.com.

    Starry Lane is a dedicated top 10 allergen free facility, and we take your safety very seriously. The signs that we've placed on our door and around our shop asking guests to leave all food and drink outside are there to ensure everyone's safety.

    We know it's inconvenient. We're all used to being able to bring our latte` with us as we run our errands. Or finish up the last of our sandwich as we pick up dessert. Our policy can seem intrusive. It can seem excessive. We've absolutely had guests turn around and walk out after hearing it. Most of our negative online reviews are from people complaining about this policy. We've been yelled at, scolded, and insulted for asking guests to leave their food and drink outside.
We're okay with that.

    We can't over state this. Your safety is our number one priority, and we'll do anything in our power to ensure it. The truth is that 95% of the guests who walk through our doors would never know if the guest before them spilled almond milk laced coffee on their table. They would have zero problems with wheat crumbs dropped on the floor, or peanut oil fried potato chip grease smeared on our chairs. For most food establishments that's enough. Their concern is the comfort of that 95%. Our concern is the lives of the other 5%.

    The 3 year old with a peanut allergy who doesn't know not to put his hands in his mouth after touching things like that oil smeared chair. The 10 year old who put his cookie down on that almond milk splattered table before eating it. Those children are our concern.

    Everyone with a food allergy has at least one horrible story about eating at a restaurant. It's a risk, we all know it. Living life with food allergies can make even the simplest things terrifying. If we can take away some of that terror. If we can make one place in this entire city safe for you and your children. If we can give you 5 minutes of feeling like everyone else instead of "that person with allergies". If we can do any of that, then it's all worth it.
You're worth it.

    Maybe. Unless we know exactly what foods you’re avoiding we won’t know which items are safe for you and which aren’t. Please review the ingredient list located on the menu page of our website, or the ingredient lists available in our shop. For extra safety please consider calling us at (619) 328-0500 or stopping in so that one of our team members can review the ingredient list with you.

    We understand how dangerous cross contamination can be, and we make every effort to avoid contamination between ingredients in our kitchen, however as long as an ingredient is present there is always a small chance of cross contamination. If you are severely allergic to any of the ingredients we use in the bakery we cannot guarantee that any of our products will be safe for you to eat.

    Certification is a process where a company pays a certification agency (these are independent businesses and not government run) to come and make sure that there hasn’t been any cross contamination in their facility, and that they meet the FDA standards for being free of whatever allergen is being tested for. It’s a very good idea for any company who runs the risk of cross contamination to get themselves certified, but please be aware that just because a company is certified doesn’t mean that you’re not at risk.

    Different certification agencies have different sets of policies and testing limits. Some of them consider a product gluten free if it has less than 20ppm of gluten, others 15ppm, and some even go as low as 10ppm. Unfortunately many people with gluten allergies or Celiac disease can have severe reactions to that amount of gluten in their food.

    Until the certification process is standardized, and the FDA regulations regarding allergen contamination are improved so that they keep individuals with severe food allergies safe, we prefer to stick to our own incredibly strict allergen protocols instead of offering the false sense of security that a certification can provide.