Local Girl Scout Troop Pushes For Change ... In Their Cookies

May is the time the girl scouts take to the streets with cookies in tow.

Thin Mints, Tagalongs, Do-Si-Dos, ready to be bought, sold, and consumed in mass quantities (especially the Thin Mints). But not by everyone.

Many folks have food allergies, be it lactose intolerance, diabetes, or in the case of Elle Malinow, celiac disease. Elle is a first-grader in the Half Hollow Hills district, and a member of Girl Scout Troop 1039. She can sell the cookies, but has never had a taste, as there are no allergen-free cookies produced. Elle's mother is trying to change all that.

Stacy Malinow, of Dix Hills, has started a petition, urging the Girl Scouts and the companies that make the cookies to cater to the approximately 132,000 Girl Scouts with food allergies. The mission: produce a cookie that can be enjoyed by all, no matter what the allergy.

"When my daughter is asked what's your favorite cookie, she has a tough time with that, cause she can't answer that," Malinow said. "She generally says Thin Mints because she knows she likes mint, but she's never had the cookies."

Celiac disease prevents the body from digesting gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. While there are gluten-free cookies and more and more markets feature gluten-free sections, all Girl Scout cookies have gluten, so Elle is out of luck.

"Since 18 months [old, when Elle was diagnosed], she's used to 'well everyone else can eat the pizza at the birthday party' ... in terms of cake, she's used to the other kids having cake and she has to eat something different."

The Girl Scouts encourage their members to sell cookies to raise money for their troops, and learn skills such as math and teamwork. According to Stacy, the organization doesn't do enough to support members that have food allergies, and it all comes down to business.

She says ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers, whom the Girl Scouts license the cookies to, have told her the fact that 2-4 percent of girl scouts can't eat the cookies doesn't justify the production of allergen-free products.

"Both of them have indicated that until they see enough of a need for an allergen or gluten-free cookie, they won't bake it," according to Malinow.

Malinow understands that financially, it may not make sense to produce different cookies, each one addressing a different allergy. However, she believes the answer is the production of one cookie that is free of the top eight allergens.

"You can have something say gluten-free and nut-free or gluten-free and diabetic, it has to take into account two components, and then it's economically feasible," Malinow said.

Along with May being peak season for the cookies, it's also Celiac Awareness Month, the perfect time for Stacy to start the petition, which has now topped 2,000 signatures. The goal is 100,000, and Stacy has also taken to Facebook and the school district e-mail chain to spread the word.

"Other people have tried to contact the Girl Scouts to encourage them to do what I'm doing, however no one has done it in a cohesive unit, [saying] this is what needs to be done, and we will all support you," Malinow said.

If the support is strong enough, perhaps Elle Malinow will one day get to sample what she sells.

You can sign the petition here.