(Spicely Organic Spices is pleased to have Cybele Pascal, food allergen cookbook author, introduce our new blog.)

"Sugar and spice and everything nice" is a one of the most familiar rhymes of childhood. Good food is the embodiment of joy. And whether it’s sweet or savory, spices are an essential part of that experience.

But until I discovered Spicely Organics on the shelves of my local Whole Foods market, spices were a minefield for me. I never knew where they were sourced from, what kind of facility they were being manufactured in, and if they potentially bore the risk of cross contamination with allergenic ingredients. You see, I’m the mother of a food allergic family. I’m also an allergen-free cookbook author, and TV host. So finding spices that are free of the risk of cross contamination is of the utmost importance. That little ditty "Sugar and Spice and everything nice" was written long before food allergies had exploded into a major public health crisis ... before people had to ask, "was this cinnamon manufactured in a plant alongside peanuts?" 1 in 17 kids under the age of 3 has a food allergy in the US. 1 in 24 adults. That’s a staggering number, and it continues to rise at an alarming rate. If you suffer from a life threatening food allergy, even a trace amount of the allergen you are allergic to can set off a severe allergic reaction. This left me in a state of despair as I combed the labels of vanilla extract, and ground ginger, looking for clues about how the lovely aromatic ingredient had come to my local shelves, and whether it was safe.

And then one day, I noticed a whole new display of cute little environmentally friendly boxed spices. I pulled one down, and scanned the label. Not only were they organic, (a major bonus, because that means no pesticides) but they were also Allergy-friendly! I almost jumped for joy. As a professional cook, devoted to creating allergy-friendly foods, this was the best news I’d come across in years.

I adore Spicely Organic Spices, use them exclusively, and recommend them whole-heartedly. In addition to the aforementioned safety assurance, and their attention to environmental sustainability, these spices are really top notch. They are fresh, full of flavor, and bursting with all the delicious scents you could hope for in your spice rack. Giving "sugar and spice and everything nice" to your friends and family just got a whole lot easier.

Thanks, Spicely Organics!

Cybele Pascal is a food allergy expert and award-winning author of Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook and The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook Cybele has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, the Food Network, the Today show, ABC News, Good Morning America Health, and NPR. She writes a weekly food blog, Food Allergy Recipe Challenge on Martha Stewart's Whole Living Daily, and is the host of Eat Freely with Cybele, an internet based Allergy-Friendly cooking show.