During the Gluten-Free Food Allergy Fest in Indianapolis on Oct. 24-25 Brooke will be sharing her passion of gluten-free baking with the public.

INDIANAPOLIS — One in 133 people in Indiana is allergic to gluten. Gluten is a protein found in common household staples such as wheat, barley and rye. The painful side effects of a gluten allergy force folks to give up cookies, cake and bread. Brooke’s Naturals, a wholesome, gluten-free baking mix company located in Dana, population 593, provides a delicious solution to gluten suffers.

“I was inspired to bake everything from gluten-free chocolate to gluten free cakes when a close friend of mine was diagnosed with celiac disease. I didn’t want her to feel ostracized, just because she had an allergy,” said Brooke Schmidt, co-owner of Brooke’s Naturals baking mixes.

During the Gluten-Free Food Allergy Fest in Indianapolis on Oct. 24-25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Brooke will be sharing her passion of gluten-free baking with the public. “Brooke’s Naturals offers an array of tasty options to help those forced to live without. We will be sampling some of our tastiest treats,” Schmidt said. The festival is being held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Festival organizers say their main goal is to look at gluten-free living as not restrictive, but more as a celebration of all the foods that people can eat. “For so long people thought gluten-free meant you can’t indulge in candies or baking mixes. For Brooke’s Naturals to be showcasing at the festival is saying you can eat things that everyone else can eat. But it doesn’t have to have gluten in it, and you won’t feel like garbage the next day,” said festival spokesperson Lindsey Bockhorst.

Brooke’s Naturals products can be purchased at Indiana Krogers, Baesler’s Market, Marsh, Fresh Thyme, Moody’s Meats, Carmel Market District, Georgetown Market, Tyner Pond Farm, Green Bean Delivery and online at www.brookescandyco.com.

For more information on the festival visit www.glutenfreefoodallergyfest.com.