On February 18, Rachel Ray will feature an allergy free snack from an allergy free food line as her “snack of the day” on the nationally syndicated Rachel Ray Show. Enjoy Life Foods, the country’s leading allergy-friendly and gluten-free company will have their popular Snickerdoodle cookies featured on the show. Once something hits the Rachel Ray show, you never know what will happen. What great news for Enjoy Life Foods and the allergy community.

Scott Mandell, president, CEO and co-founder of Enjoy Life Foods, shows his enthusiasm in a press release for the company. He reports, “We’re happy that even more people with diet restrictions will learn they can find great cookies made especially for them as close as their local grocery stores. Even if you don’t follow a special diet, our Snickerdoodles are a darn good cookie.”

Enjoy Life Foods was founded in 2001 and released food products in 2002 which contained no products from the top 8 allergens. In September 2007, Enjoy Life Foods was named to the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing privately held businesses in the U.S. Enjoy Life Foods now offers 21 allergy-friendly and gluten-free products, including, cookies, granola, nut-free trail mixes and more, all made in a dedicated nut- and gluten-free facility.

Rachel Ray will feature the Snickerdoodles, the company’s most popular cookie on her show Monday. Her audience members, approximately 135 people, will all receive a box of cookies and sample them on air.

With Martha Stewart’s recent contest featuring a winning idea for a food allergy magazine (see news round up Feb 17), Trace Adkins, the country music star featured on the Celebrity Apprentice, and now Rachel Ray featuring an allergy free snack, it feels that food allergies may get some well deserved attention. Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, it seems sometimes it takes some celebrity endorsement and support of a cause to bring attention to it.

Whatever it takes, though, I think it is OK, as long as people realize food allergies are a real health condition. Perhaps people will begin to take them more seriously. Thanks, Rachel! For show times and channels, see http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show-info/showtimes/.