Have you seen us lately?

Our packaging got a bit of a facelift recently. We’re moving up in the world and now have fancy new labels for our Cookies n’ No Cream, Kai’s Good Karma, Enlightened Lemon Lavender, and Mint Meditation. All of these superstars are still vegan, gluten free, peanut and tree nut free!

A great way to see our new pints in action is to pick one up at Picnic and Pantry, Meals to Go, and Park + Vine. An even BETTER way to see them would be by coming out to Park + Vine this Friday for Final Friday in Downtown Cincinnati. You could grab an ice cream sandwich and chat with the fun and always fabulous Phro*Zen ladies! Mention the secret word “facelift” and your face will get a lift with a smile because you’ll receive $.50 off your ice cream sandwich.

 We look forward to seeing our Phro*Zen fans this Friday!

A little something to enjoy

 

Hello out there! I wanted to introduce you to our newest product, the vegan ice cream individual cup (pictured above).

Not only is the stuff inside the cup really tasty and exciting, but the cup itself is pretty neat too. It’s made of plant materials, so it’s actually biodegradable. So why should anyone be excited about that? There are plenty of reasons, including knowing it will eventually break down instead of adding to the tons of trash we create everyday, and then there’s this:

Yep. After you finish enjoying your Phro*Zen, you can clean out the cup, poke a few holes in the bottom, and start your cold weather plants in it. The sugar cane fibers will break down and you’ll have some happy little seedlings. You can find these cups at Caffeine Dreams, next to the bike trail in Loveland.

Food Allergy Post: July 2011

This month I had the privilege of getting a more in-depth look at the food allergy program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Whether you love Cincinnati or not (yes, that’s a shout to all of you with the “Cincinnati’s just ok” bumper stickers), the city is lucky to have such an innovative clinic available to those that need it. 

I shadowed Dr. Assa’ad for her morning rounds, which were hectic to say the least. Between the tests and the evaluations, plus the time spent discussing patient status and possible solutions with colleagues, she has her work cut out for her. 

The day started with an evaluation of a patient who was previously tolerating soy milk, but began having stomach upset after strenuous exercise which might have correlated with his breakfast that included soy milk. Confused? Me too. How do you know if it was the soy milk, or another part of his diet, or  the allergens in the air at his activity? Eight hours of testing, that’s how.

That testing began with blind sampling of either soy milk or rice milk, only one of the nurses knew which was which. A few milliliters were taken in specific intervals to determine if he was in fact allergic to soy. The patient came prepared with a movie, used to the long wait associated with the test. 

Another patient came in for a skin test, which involved pricking her skin with a sharp that had been dipped in an allergen extract. If it was a positive reaction, the skin would raise into a bump reminiscent of a mosquito bite or worse. Negative would just look like a little red dot. 

I followed and took notes and tried to absorb every bit of knowledge from all of the staff that I could. What I learned was this: every family that comes through that clinic is worried. Everyone has questions and they all need answers because their well-being depends on them. And as far as our product goes? I need to do everything I can to make it safe for all of those kids and adults alike that come through testing and trials to find out what they can’t have, so that they can find out that they can still have ice cream.