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24 hours after the news comes out that Columbia University has developed a test for non-celiac gluten sensitivity (called wheat sensitivity in the test), Mike and Cam discuss. They also talk about their hopes for a celiac test for people who have already gone off gluten. To this point, they take a deeper look at the so called “gluten challenge,”some of the issues with it, and the fact that the medical community can’t come to an agreement about how to actually administer the gluten challenge.

It is summertime and a perfect opportunity to talk about Cam’s latest trip to Michigan. He talks about the ritual and preparation that helps him most enjoy his family’s vacations. Mike and Cam also share many of their top travel tips to stay safe on the road including an app (and website) that no celiac or gluten-free eater should be without.

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This week’s podcast takes a look at a Buzzfeed video, in which four of their employees agree to go gluten free for a month. Mike and Cam share their many thoughts on this kind of “not so scientific” testing (including one woman who continues eating her veggie bacon not knowing it contains gluten #readtheingredientspeople!) You might be surprised by some of the outcomes of this experiment and some of our opinions of it.

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In Part 2 of our special restaurant series, Ashley Mazur, Marketing & Media Director of the world famous Berghoff restaurant in Chicago shares some of the amazing history of the restaurant (including the fact that they were the first in Chicago to receive a liquor license after prohibition ended)! We go in depth from the restaurant’s point of view as well as how they became one of the very first restaurants to go through Beyond Celiac’s “Great Kitchens” program. You won’t want to miss this informative, eye-opening episode as we hear some of the biggest challenges that a restaurant faces in order to keep its celiac and allergic guests safe.

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We all have learned by now that not all gluten free restaurants and kitchens are created equally. On this week’s podcast, Beckee Moreland talks about her mission to change that one kitchen at a time. Beckee helped start the GREAT Kitchens program, assisting restaurants, colleges and camps to have safe gluten free kitchens including the education of cooks and servers through an accreditation program.

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Aaron the web guy here. I have to share a story. Last week we went to a local Italian place. They have a large amount of GF options & always take great care of people that choose or have to eat GF. I ordered a GF pizza & a hard cider (of course that is naturally GF). I also ordered one of my absolute favorites: a Caprese salad. Since we’ve been here before I didn’t have to stress the GF side of things. Again, they already take good care of those that order GF.

A few minutes pass. Our drinks show up. My wife’s appetizer shows up & then my salad shows up. My wife saw that I was very obviously disappointed & incredibly stressed out. On the side was a gluten-full roll. As we all know you can’t simply remove it & eat what’s there. I checked the menu. There was no mention of a roll. The last time I ordered this salad a roll didn’t make an appearance. But then I remembered. The last time we went to this place a friend of ours was our server. She knows that I’m GF & took extra “friend”care of me to make sure I was safe in the sense that I didn’t have to ask or remind.

So I walked to the waitress stand. You know at this point that this can either go really well or really bad. I’m VERY happy to report that she & the other staff were very apologetic. She even mentioned that she should have caught on considering I ordered both a GF meal & GF drink. She very quickly had another one made & brought it out to me, again apologizing the entire time. I commended her on the way she handled it as she did such a great job!

All that to write, what are some positive experiences that you’ve had while dining out gluten free?

This week Mike and Cam are joined by special guest Erin Smith, the Gluten Free Globetrotter. We talk to Erin about all things gluten free travel. Erin shares with us many of her top travel tips, thoughts and negotiating the world safely as a celiac. She has a unique perspective as she has traveled extensively and been diagnosed with celiac at a very young age.  Erin shares her thoughts on which countries, in her eyes, are most gluten free friendly.

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Mike and Cam take a closer look at the Elle Cartoon as they discuss the blog post from the Huffington Post, “Gluten-Free Shaming is not OK” by chef and food writer Jackie Ourman. They share their thoughts on people’s attempts at gluten-free humor and why it usually falls flat.
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Mike tells Cam about a recent visit to a local pizza place that goes very wrong. Three pizzas are purchased, but which ones are gluten-free, and which is not? Are there ways that these types of restaurant “horror stories” can be avoided? Or at the very least, what should restaurants do to improve safety for their gluten free diners?
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