Potomac Bakery Goes Nut Free

A Potomac bakery has gone nut-free in response to one of the most widely reported national food allergies.

Peanut and tree nut allergies rank among the most common food allergies, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  Tamir and Brenda Bennaim, three-year co-owners of Breadsmith of Potomac, say they decided to make their facility nut-free after hearing frequent special requests from customers. 

"I didn't even know it was such a big thing in Maryland and around this country,” Tamir said. “When I found out that a lot of people have nut problems I said to myself, ‘I want to serve everybody.’"

The couple spent nearly two weeks removing peanut and tree nut ingredients from the bakery, sanitizing the workspaces and revising the bakery’s menu to remove nut-based products.

"A lot of our stuff didn't have a lot of nuts anyway, but we got rid of nut cookies, peanut cookies, walnut breads and pecan breads," Tamir said.

Six days into the newly nut-free bakery, Tamir says the switch doesn’t appear to have affected his bottom line. If anything, he said, it appears to be helping. 

“It's bringing new people to us. It's very nice to know that everybody can now shop with us," Tamir said. "I've had people say why are you doing it, but I've had a lot of people thank me for it."

The Breadsmith menu includes a variety of European-style breads, sandwich breads, specialty breads, cookies, muffins and sweets. 

Located at 7937 Tuckerman Lane, Breadsmith of Potomac is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The business is closed Saturdays. For more information, call the (301) 983-6033 or visit the store website here.