Washington, DC Area Awarded “World’s Most Celiac-Friendly Destination”

GlutenFreeTravelSite Awards Washington, DC Area the Title 

of “World’s Most Celiac-Friendly Destination” In Third Annual Contest

Washington, D.C. and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs offer vast array of dining choices 

for people following gluten-free diets

South Riding, VA, January 11, 2011 – GlutenFreeTravelSite (http://www.glutenfreetravelsite.com) today named Washington, D.C. and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs the winner of its annual “World’s Most Celiac-Friendly Destination” contest. Now in its third year, the contest recognizes locations that offer a wide range of dining choices for people following gluten-free diets. New York was the winner the first year, and Florida was the winning destination last year, due in large part to how accommodating Disney World and the surrounding Orlando area are to gluten-free guests.

Each year, the results are determined by tallying the number of user-submitted dining and travel reviews received throughout the year for each location on GlutenFreeTravelSite. The Washington DC metro area had a particularly impressive showing this year.

GlutenFreeTravelSite benefits from a close relationship with the DC Celiacs support group
(http://www.dcceliacs.com), and many of its members have contributed to the site by providing personal, detailed feedback on DC-area restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores. Reviews of many independent restaurants as well as chain restaurants offering gluten-free menus give residents of and visitors to the D.C. area a wide a range of “safe” choices.

“Many cities in the DC area, like Bethesda and McLean, offer numerous gluten-free dining options,” said DC Celiacs member Sandra Robins, who is also the DC Gluten-Free Examiner and Gluten Free OptimistBlogger. “In Bethesda, Maryland, diners can enjoy delicious gluten-free crab cakes at both Lilit Cafe and Chef Tony's. New gluten-free menus are being discovered regularly, providing diners with significantly more choices than four years ago, when I was initially diagnosed with Celiac Disease."

“The DC area is a great place to live or visit if you’re on a gluten-free diet,” added Karen Broussard, founder and president of GlutenFreeTravelSite. “No matter what type of food is desired -- haute cuisine or casual family dining, Italian or Ethiopian -- diners can always find plenty of places offering great gluten-free options when searching the dining reviews on GlutenFreeTravelSite.”

Visitors to GlutenFreeTravelSite can search by state or country – or even by town or zip code – to find restaurants, hotels/resorts, cruises, and grocery stores that accommodate their diets. They can also submit their own dining and travel reviews to provide helpful feedback to others with their same dietary needs and challenges.

Most people who follow gluten-free diets do so because of Celiac Disease, an autoimmune disease in which the body is unable to digest gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. As awareness has grown and more people with Celiac Disease get properly diagnosed (as many as 1 in 133 people in the United States have it, according to a 2003 study, but over 90% of these people remain undiagnosed), more restaurants in the Washington DC area – and around the world -- have recognized the need to serve this market by developing gluten-free options for their menus.

About GlutenFreeTravelSite
GlutenFreeTravelSite was launched in April 2008 to give people following gluten-free diets a place to share feedback on restaurants, hotels/resorts, cruise ships, and grocery stores around the world that cater to the gluten-free community. The site is organized geographically to make submitting and searching reviews very user-friendly. In addition to their large database of valuable reviews, which includes feedback on many independent restaurants,” GlutenFreeTravelSite also offers a “Gluten Free Restaurant Menus” section (http://www.glutenfreetravelsite.com/restaurants) showcasing a list of many national
and regional restaurants chains that now offer gluten-free menus, with direct links to those menus. For more information or to learn about advertising opportunities, visit GlutenFreeTravelSite (http://www.glutenfreetravelsite.com) or e-mail kbroussard@glutenfreetravelsite.com.

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For Information Contact:
Sarah Welz
Tel: 703-626-8055
E-mail: sarah@w2comm.com