Why this store exists
The Alpha-Gal Aisle was founded by Erica Burton, an Arkansas shopper who has alpha-gal syndrome herself. After one too many grocery trips spent squinting at labels in the aisle, she built the store she needed: a grocery store where the label-reading is done before anything reaches the shelf.
What "Alpha-Gal Friendly" means here
Alpha-gal syndrome is a mammal allergy. So our checking standard is simple to say and strict to apply: no mammal ingredients. That means no gelatin, no dairy, no lanolin, no mammalian collagen, no leather, no wool — and the hidden versions of all of them, in anything we list.
How every product gets checked
1. The full ingredient list, or it doesn't go in. If we cannot source a product's complete ingredient list from the brand, the product is not listed. No list, no exceptions.
2. Every ingredient is screened. Each list is checked ingredient-by-ingredient against the mammal-derived ingredients alpha-gal shoppers have to watch for — including the ones hiding under names most people don't recognize.
3. The full list is printed on the product page. Under an "Ingredients" heading, word for word, so you can do your own research too. Every product also carries a dated stamp: "✓ Ingredients verified on [date]".
4. We re-check every week. Manufacturers change recipes. Every Monday, our full catalog is re-screened, and a rotating set of products is re-verified against the brand's current listing. If a product ever fails a re-check, it comes down immediately — we don't wait, and we don't leave it up "just in case."
5. When we ask the maker, we say so. Some products are admitted on a manufacturer's written confirmation about an ingredient source. When that happens, the product page says exactly that — what the maker confirmed, and when — in the maker's name, not as our guarantee.
What we will never do
We will never call a product "safe." Sensitivity varies from person to person, and no store can promise a body how it will react. We say Alpha-Gal Friendly, we print the ingredients, and we ask you to read the physical label when your order arrives — the label on the product is the final word. Nothing here is medical advice; your doctor is the authority on your health. We are the authority on one thing only: doing the label homework before you ever see a product.
Spot something we should look at? Write to hello@thealpha-galaisle.com. Corrections make this store better for everybody.