September Meeting

We are two weeks away from our next meeting and we have exciting news—note the change in location for September!  Many thanks to member Elaine Manikas, who made me aware that Williams-Sonoma now carries some gluten-free products and even did a cooking demonstration about a week ago.  Elaine also talked to the management about our group.  When I later spoke to the general manager, Jen was gracious and inquisitive and offered to host our September meeting.  More details to come, but make note of the change in location.  If you have never been to the store, it is in The Shoppes at East Chase near Taylor Road Baptist Church, where we have been meeting.  Williams-Sonoma is located between Dillard’s and the central fountain within the shopping center.

August Surprise

While our guest speaker had to cancel at the last minute, members had a nice surprise at our August meeting, courtesy of Earth Fare.  As you can see from the pictures below, a wide assortment of gluten-free cookies, pasta and other shelf-stable products were provided for our members to try.  Instead of one large gift basket like we did in February, we numbered each product to match numbers on name tags.  Attendees then found the product number that matched their name tag to take it home.  Everyone went home with a different product (along with an Earth Fare bag) so we should have lots of product reviews at the next meeting!

Additional Benefit for GIG-Montgomery Members

Many thanks to Jason’s Deli for its continued support of GIG-Montgomery.  A couple of months ago our group was treated to a spread from the Jason’s Deli GF menu.  The sandwiches included in that spread were made on the larger Udi’s GF bread.  Those loaves of bread can be purchased separately for $12.  However, if GIG-Montgomery members show the teller our membership card, we can purchase those loaves for $10 (at Montgomery location only).  Be sure to thank the management when you are there!

Interested in Helping with Celiac Research?

I am reposting from the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness website because I know that some of our GIG-Montgomery members have family members who can participate.

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The Celiac Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is looking for adults who have relatives with celiac disease but have not been diagnosed with celiac disease and are not on a gluten-free diet. Researchers are interested in testing the usefulness of a new investigational self-administered fingerstick blood test for celiac disease. 

People who participate will be sent a packet with a fingerstick celiac test and a short survey.  The survey and the test will be sent back to the Celiac Center at BIDMC in the provided envelope. Participation is expected to take less than 20 minutes. Please note that the fingerstick test is investigational (not FDA approved) and should not be used for celiac disease diagnosis. 

BIDMC has a limited number of test kits available. They will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis with a limit of 2 kits per person.

This study is completely anonymous and BIDMC will not have any way to tell who was tested with these kits. The study is being conducted by Dr. Leffler at BIDMC and is being sponsored by 2G Pharma.

Participants  must meet all of the following criteria:

·         Over the age of 18

·         A first or second degree relative with celiac disease

·         Not previously diagnosed with celiac disease

·         Not on a gluten-free diet or low-gluten diet within the past 3 months

·         Able and willing to self administer the test, complete a short survey form and return both in the provided envelope

·         Willingness to have follow up medical evaluation in the event of a positive test

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Daniel Leffler
The Celiac Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Phone: 617.667.8397
celiac@bidmc.harvard.edu

Enjoy Life Allergy Free Cookies Courtesy of Earth Fare

Many thanks to our local Earth Fare for donating boxes of cookies from the Enjoy Life Company for our meeting Thursday night.

Some of our members and guests must avoid more than just gluten.  Here is a link from Enjoy Life’s website that explains their “allergy-friendly” policy: http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/our_lifestyle/allergy_friendly.php

There is new leadership at the local Earth Fare store.  Store Manager Tim encouraged me to spread the word that if we are looking for a particular GF product to let him know!

Gluten Intolerance Group Announcement

Has Consumer Perception of GF Food Safety Changed Over Time?

The Gluten Intolerance Group &

The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center

August, 2011

The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center has partnered with the Gluten Intolerance Group on an exciting initiative to further our understanding of consumer perception of gluten free food safety. If you have 20 minutes to participate and have been diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten intolerance/gluten sensitivity, please complete this food safety survey. We hope to gain valuable information from this study that will identify education and purchasing behaviors within the gluten-free community that would be useful in advancing gluten-free products and dining; and identify education, training, and communication needs between and within the consumers and food manufacturing and food service industries.

To complete the survey, please visit this link and click to accept participation on the first page:

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e4m0yyolgrdqh65j/a012igrjyzg77/greeting

Please share this with others in the GF community. Next week a food industry survey will launched that compliments this survey.

 Take Survey Now

Guest Speaker--Dr. Robert Brinson

As we announced at last month’s meeting, our guest speaker in August will be Dr. Robert Brinson, MD of Digestive Disease Associates.  Dr. Brinson is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine as well as the Subspecialty Board of Gastroenterology, and is also a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition.  Dr. Brinson received his M.D. in 1981 from the Medical College of Georgia and has a private practice of gastroenterology in Montgomery.  The meeting is next Thursday, August 25^th from 6-7 p.m. in the Fellowship Suite of Taylor Road Baptist Church (see sidebar).  Bring your questions for Dr. Brinson!

GF Care Packages

Facebook notice from the Celiac Disease Center of the University of Chicago:

“If you or your child has been biopsy-diagnosed with celiac disease in the past 12 months, we may be able to help with our Gluten-Free Care Package. Please contact our office at (773) 702-7593.”