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Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Gluten-Free in College: Part 1
At this time of year, I always get really nostalgic for college. I met my best friends for life and got an amazing education at Marist College so I have very fond memories of those four years of my life. Unfortunately, the not so fond memories came to eating in college. I wasn't careful, I ate and drank a lot of things I shouldn't have, and I did a lot of gluten-filled things I am not proud of during those four years of college. In retrospect, I should have been much more careful. I should have spoken directly with the cafeteria staff during freshman orientation and checked with the staff regularly about the food I was eating but I did none of these things. I was sick for much of the first two years of school while eating in the dining hall and this was all as a diagnosed Celiac. I can't go back and change anything, but I can share tips with my readers about how to make college life much easier for those going away with Celiac Disease or gluten intolerances. It seems that college campuses are friendlier than ever to those on a gluten-free diet, so I want to help ease your back-to-school worries.

Seriously, could my college campus get any more beautiful!?

This is the first of a multi-part series about going back to school and going away to college and how to navigate a gluten-free diet.


Is Your College Gluten-Free Friendly?

The GlutenFreeTravelSite added a feature that enables gluten-free college students to review colleges and universities for their degree of "gluten-free friendliness." Reviewers simply follow the steps for Submitting a Review as they would for a restaurant, store, hotel, or resort, but they choose "college" when prompted for the type of establishment they're reviewing.

By adding colleges as a choice of venues to be reviewed, GlutenFreeTravelsite gives college students a way to share their feedback -- both positive and negative -- with current and prospective students who follow gluten-free diets.


Read more from the GlutenFreeTravelSite press release below:

GlutenFreeTravelSite today announces the addition of a feature on its site that enables the gluten-free community to review colleges and universities for their degree of “gluten-free friendliness.”

GlutenFreeTravelSite is a website that helps people following gluten-free diets find “safe” places to eat, whether they are looking for a restaurant in their town or searching for suitable places to eat or stay when traveling. The site contains a database of thousands of reviews of restaurants, hotels/resorts, cruises, and grocery stores throughout the world -- submitted by people following gluten-free diets.

By adding colleges and universities as a choice of “venues” being reviewed, college students now have a way to share their feedback – both positive and negative – with current and prospective students who follow gluten-free diets. To search for college reviews, users of the site simply do a geographic search, entering the town or zip code where the particular college is located. GlutenFreeTravelSite will also regularly share information about the college reviews it receives via Twitter, Facebook, and their free monthly email.

Max Librach, a 2009 Georgetown University graduate with Celiac Disease, explained the challenge for gluten-free teens evaluating colleges. “It’s crucial to get feedback on the gluten-free policies of colleges and the options that are available on campuses, because college students need to know if they’ll be able to get safe meals every day while attending school.”
Mr. Librach, who is also co-founder of Eagle Therapeutics, makers of CeliAct, the first nutritional supplement designed specifically for people with Celiac Disease, continued, “Students with Celiac are completely dependent on the commitment and safe practices of the school they choose. Now that there will be a place for aspiring college students to go to find out about a certain university’s ‘gluten-free friendliness,’ it will help make those tough decisions so much easier.”

“There has been a fair amount of press recently about universities that either do or don’t cater to the gluten-free community,” added Karen Broussard, founder and president of GlutenFreeTravelSite. “We felt people should have a place to go to search the schools they’re considering – or share feedback about the schools they attend. Users of our site already have the ability to search or submit dining and travel reviews of ‘gluten-free friendly’ restaurants, stores, hotels/resorts, and cruises. Why not also give them the ability to review colleges and universities?”

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. Celiac Disease affects 1 in 133 people in the United States, and rates are even higher in some other countries. People with “gluten intolerance,” autism, and other health concerns have found that a gluten-free diet can also help reduce their symptoms.

About GlutenFreeTravelSite
GlutenFreeTravelSite was launched in April 2008 to help users quickly and easily access peer-written reviews of restaurants, hotels/resorts, cruise ships, and grocery stores around the world that cater to the gluten-free community. Between the database of reviews and the dozens of national and regional restaurant chains with gluten free menus listed on their Gluten Free Restaurant Menus page, visitors to the site can find thousands of safe dining options. For more information or to learn about advertising opportunities, visit GlutenFreeTravelSite or e-mail kbroussard(at)glutenfreetravelsite(dot)com.

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Wednesday, January 12, 2011
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

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Tuesday, January 11, 2011
GlutenFreeTravelSite Announces Mobile Version of Website

Mobile Version Offers Free and Automatic Access to Gluten Free Restaurant Information and Dining Reviews via Any Smart Phone

South Riding, VA, January 5, 2011 – GlutenFreeTravelSite.com
today announces the launch of a mobile version of the site, automatically available on any smart phone. The mobile version provides visitors with a user-friendly format for accessing the site’s gluten-free dining information when “on the go” or traveling.

GlutenFreeTravelSite is a website that helps people following gluten-free diets find “safe” places to eat, whether they are looking for a restaurant in their town or searching for suitable places to eat or stay when traveling. The site contains a database of thousands of reviews of restaurants, hotels/resorts, cruises, and grocery stores throughout the world -- submitted by people following gluten-free diets.

“The mobile version of GlutenFreeTravelSite is incredibly easy to use, and more importantly, gives you instant access to a wealth of gluten-free information,” said Chad Hines, founder of the Gluten-Free Faces social networking site. “You have the ability to browse through local gluten-free restaurant reviews, view restaurant menus, and even access all your favorite social media sites -- all while on the go!"

Similar to the main site, the free mobile version of GlutenFreeTravelSite allows visitors to search reviews by city/town or zip code, with the search results appearing on a Google map. Users simply click on any establishment listed to link to the review. Most places reviewed are “hidden gems” such as independent restaurants, stores, resorts, and inns/B&B's that Celiacs may not have heard about elsewhere.

The mobile version of the site also incorporates the
Gluten Free Restaurant Menus section, which lists national and regional restaurant chains that offer gluten-free menus – and provides direct links to their gluten-free menus and locations. Users of GlutenFreeTravelSite’s mobile version can even visit the site’s Blog, Facebook and Twitter pages, and read the Featured Review of the Month, a review that is chosen from the prior month’s submissions for special showcasing.

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. Celiac Disease affects 1 in 133 people in the United States and rates are even higher in some other countries. People with “gluten intolerance,” autism, and other health concerns have found that a gluten-free diet can also help reduce their symptoms.

“People following gluten-free diets have somewhat limited options when it comes to dining out and traveling,” said Karen Broussard, founder and president of GlutenFreeTravelSite. “With the mobile version, people can now have the helpful resources of GlutenFreeTravelSite at their fingertips at all times – whether they use an iPhone, Blackberry, or Android-based smart phone.”

About GlutenFreeTravelSite
GlutenFreeTravelSite was launched in April 2008 to help users quickly and easily access peer-written reviews of restaurants, hotels/resorts, cruise ships, and grocery stores around the world that cater to the gluten-free community. Between the database of reviews and the dozens of national and regional restaurant chains with gluten free menus listed on their Gluten Free Restaurant Menus page, visitors to the site can find thousands of safe and delicious dining options. For more information or to learn about advertising opportunities, visit GlutenFreeTravelSite at http://www.glutenfreetravelsite.com or e-mail
kbroussard@ glutenfreetravelsite.com.

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