Frequently Asked Questions

What is Gluten? Why Gluten-Free?
Most of our customers already know what gluten is because they have a disease or food sensitivity that prevents them from eating gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, spelt, barley, and rye. People with mild to severe gluten sensitivities must avoid eating gluten and people with celiac disease, and autoimmune disorder must follow a strict gluten-free diet. Many people with other medical conditions have shown improvement on a gluten-free diet. Our bakery is dedicated gluten-free, meaning we do not allow any products containing gluten to be used in our bakery. This eliminates any possibility of our products being contaminated.

So why Dairy, Soy, and Peanut Free?
Many people with celiac disease also have dairy and soy allergies as a result. Dairy, soy, and peanut allergies are also common allergies on their own, so we decided to create product that can be enjoyed by these people as well. Absolutely no soy or peanut products are used in our bakery, and the only dairy used in the bakery is sheep’s milk cheese that we use on our pizza and flatbreads. We’ve also developed recipes with egg, yeast, and sugar sensitivities in mind.  That said, we have many customers with no food allergies at all, they just enjoy our treats!

I have a food allergy, how do I know what I can eat at Dee’s?
No matter what your allergies, we always recommend telling our salespeople what you can and can’t eat.  If you have a common allergy like gluten, dairy, soy or peanuts, it will be easy to navigate the store. But gluten-free baking is much different from conventional baking, and our recipes may contain unexpected ingredients like fruit, legumes, or coconut. We label all of our products with ingredients lists, and we even color code some our product to denote dairy-free, egg-free, contains tree nuts, etc. As you start purchasing from Dee’s regularly you will learn what product meets your needs.

Do you use nuts in your bakery?
We use nuts in a very small selection of baked goods, and we use very cautious practices to segregate our nuts and nut products. We bake nut products while we are closed to the public, using separate utensils and sanitizing all surfaces and our ovens before baking product again. We do not consider coconut a tree nut. If you have a coconut allergy please inform staff—we use coconut milk and shredded coconut in several products.

What is the difference between dairy, casein, and lactose?
Dairy refers to milk or milk products like butter, cheese, whey, etc. Casein is found in all dairy products and it often added to processed foods. Lactose is a sugar found in milk, but it differs depending on the animal that the milk came from. Cow’s milk contains lactose which many people have a hard time digesting. Sheep and goats’ milk does not contain the same lactose structure as cow’s milk and is tolerated by many people with lactose intolerance. We use a sheep’s milk cheese on our pizzas and flatbreads for this reason. Of course, we also make pizzas and flatbreads without the cheese for those who cannot have any dairy or casein.