Health need helped inspire a new dessert

After Sam Hoffman was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 16 and suffered months of chemotherapy, the 6-footer from Marblehead weighed 110 pounds. Nausea and dehydration took their toll on his eating habits. He couldn't stomach high-fat, high-sugar hospital foods and mainly ate the meals his family brought in.

Hoffman said that during his chemotherapy at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the staff was most concerned with getting cancer patients to eat anything at all, never mind health foods.

''You could get fried or breaded anything, heavily steamed veggies from a can or high-fat, high-sugar ice cream," he said. ''But I didn't eat simple sugar, and I never felt nearly as sick as the other people going through treatment."

Determined to regain his strength, Sam took classes to become a certified herbalist. With the help of his father, Michael, he started concocting ''smoothie" mixtures, containing dandelions, green tea, nettles, lavender, fresh berries, and other ingredients. Those along with other healthy foods were the staples of his diet.

Today, Hoffman, 20, is a healthy freshman at Hampshire College in Amherst, who credits the smoothies and the low-sugar, herbal diet with helping save his life.

''The stage I'm at now is a clean bill of health," he said. ''And I'm still recovering."

Eager to share their discovery with others, over the course of the past two years the father-son duo developed their smoothie recipes into a line of frozen desserts called Alpine Ice.

They tinkered with the recipe, which now contains rose petals, peppermint, blackberries, and green tea. Alpine Ice has a creamy consistency and is free of fat, sugar, dairy, and gluten.

The low-calorie treat is being marketed to hospitals such as Boston Medical Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.

First sold at the 2004 Boston Marathon, Alpine Ice is now offered at more than 13 locations across the state, including Henry's Market in North Beverly, Grossman's Delicatessen in Marblehead, and Green Meadows Farm in Hamilton.

The Hoffmans' Mountain Herbal Foods Co., which includes fellow Marblehead resident Andrew Barnett, offered Alpine Ice to hospital patients last summer, after undergoing taste tests with hospital nutritionists, college students, and patients with chronic conditions.

Alpine Ice is in the process of being incorporated into the Dana-Farber cafeteria menu, as well as several other major Boston hospitals, by working with Sodexho, the leading food management services company in North America that supplies them.

''We've already had three tastings here, and people love it," said Barbara Franklin, general foods manager for Dana-Farber.

While diet cannot cure cancer, there is medical evidence to show that some herbs and spices may prevent certain types of tumors.

''Cancer loves sugar," said Michael Hoffman. ''So I raised the point that it would make sense [for hospitals] to have some healthy desserts for the patients."

Alpine Ice hasn't struck gold yet, but it has caught the attention of health guru Dr. Barry Sears, author of ''The Zone."

''I feel that Mountain Herbal Foods ushers in a new era of 'guiltless pleasures,' " he wrote to Mountain Herbal Foods Co. ''[These foods that] have such great taste, yet they are manufactured to deliver incredibly high level of nutrients known to improve health and wellness."

With flavors like Bolder Berry, Green Tea Verbena, and Lavender Sunrise, many of the recipes were created in Barnett's Marblehead kitchen, relying on his background in chemistry, Sam's knowledge of herbs, and Michael Hoffman's love of ice cream.

''I am an ice cream junkie, but as you get older, you start to wear it," he said.

The final product contains 45 calories per serving and is sold by the pint in ice cream containers (the price range is $3.99 to $5). The treat is still a labor of love for the three, who manufacture the product by hand.

Once a month, they gather at the Food Ventures Center in Greenfield, a small food processing plant. Donning hairnets, they produce 125 gallons, or 1,000 pints of Alpine Ice, over the course of a weekend.

Although Mountain Herbal Foods reports that sales are growing, Hoffman doesn't expect to make a profit for a while. The company launch cost $20,000, and production costs around $2,000 a month.

''We are increasing in sales, but many start-ups don't make a profit for at least two years," said Michael Hoffman.

Although it may be a while before Alpine Ice is approved for patient distribution by Sodexho, the three from Mountain Herbal Foods said it will be worth the wait.

''Every minute of the last two years became worthwhile when a little girl with serious food allergies at the Marblehead Farmers Market looked up with glee while sampling one of our flavors and said, 'I'll never have to read food labels again,' " said Barnett. ''That's what this product is all about."