Triumph Dining Gluten Free Dining Out Cards – English & Spanish + Review

Gluten Free Dining Out Cards (English and Spanish Edition) by Triumph Dining

These cards help to explain to restaurant staff (in both English and Spanish) that you need to dine gluten free.  I have these and have used them for foreign travel.  In my opinion, they are an amazing help.  Check out my review.

Update: Since this post was published the price, availability or promotion has changed.  Check the product page for up to the minute description, price and availability.  Also: Today’s Deals on Amazon

Gluten Free Dining Out Cards (English and Spanish Edition)

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Chick-fil-A: New Gluten Free Bun + What’s Gluten Free at Chick-fil-A

ATLANTA (June 19, 2017) – Chick-fil-A® announced today the addition of a new Gluten-Free Bun. The addition comes in response to customers’ requests for more gluten-free/sensitive options on the menu. The new bun, which is now available in restaurants nationwide, comes individually packaged and can be ordered with any of Chick-fil-A’s sandwich offerings.

The Gluten-Free Bun is made with premium ingredients, including ancient grains quinoa and amaranth. It is enriched with vitamins and minerals and is lightly sweetened with molasses and raisins. The Gluten-Free Bun rolls out nationwide following successful tests in three cities across the country in 2016.

Data shows roughly 18 million Americans have a gluten sensitivity or preference. Chick-fil-A is one of the few quick-service restaurants to offer a gluten-free bun.

“We know our customers are looking for more gluten-sensitive alternatives. They asked, and we listened,” said Leslie Neslage, senior consultant of menu development at Chick-fil-A. “We heard positive feedback in test markets that the bun tastes better than some other gluten-free breads. That’s because instead of rice flower, we’ve made the bun with more premium ingredients like quinoa and amaranth. Our hope is that the Gluten-Free Bun addition opens up options for gluten-sensitive customers to enjoy more of our menu.”

Also worth noting – “While individually packaged and certified free of gluten, guests will be required to assemble their own sandwiches to reduce risk of cross-contamination. Chick-fil-A kitchens are not gluten-free.”  See below for a link the full news release.

Chick-fil-A has also re-added a “gluten free” list to their website.  That, and any reference to gluten, has been conspicuously absent from their site for years.

I think Chick-fil-A has been going the wrong direction with regards to gluten free for a while.  See: Chick-fil-A – A Step Backwards When It Comes to Gluten Free.  This menu addition and the additional information MAY be a sign they are changing directions.  I still have serious concerns.  Read on.

Chick-fil-A continues use phrases that make me think they are not using Celiac-safe methods.

Example: “For guests who wish to minimize their gluten intake, here is a list of additional menu items offered at Chick-fil-A. (The fine print: Due to the handcrafted nature of our food, variations in our supplier ingredients and our use of shared cooking and preparation areas, we cannot ensure that our restaurant environment or any menu item will be completely free of gluten.)” from the What’s Gluten Free at Chick-fil-A? page.  Emphasis mine.

I get it.  Their kitchens contain gluten and there’s no guarantee that cross contamination will not occur.

Troubling.  The really troubling parts of that statement are – “variations in our supplier ingredients”…”we cannot ensure that our restaurant environment or any menu item will be completely free of gluten”

Wait, what?  You mean to tell me that Chick-fil-A doesn’t have enough sway with their suppliers to work with them to guarantee certain ingredients are gluten free?  So, the honey mustard is gluten free as of some point, but supplier A decided to change something and now it’s not and we can’t do anything about it and too bad.

What about other allergens?  Can those just randomly show up in the food too?  How about “Sorry guys, the coleslaw has peanuts in it today, hope you brought your EpiPen”.

This is careless, sloppy and/or reckless.

With regards to cross contamination… In 2013 Chick-fil-A had the following on their website: “While we don’t have a gluten free prep area for these items, our procedures have been written to avoid cross contamination”

Sometime after March of 2014, the term gluten was all but expunged from Chick-fil-A’s website.  In December of 2016, the only mention I could find of the term gluten related to applesauce or something in their kids meals.  The allergen matrix made no mention of gluten.

Now that gluten seems to be a valid word again at Chick-fil-a are they still trained to avoid cross contamination?  Were they ever trained to do so?

Chick-fil-A… How about working with your suppliers to make sure they truly supply gluten free items?  How about giving people with serious gluten issues some insight as to what goes on in the kitchen and give us a clue how and if we can order safely (within reason) at your restaurants??

Or – Just say it… Celiacs and the like – stay away.  We use the term “gluten sensitive” because we’re hopping hopping on the bandwagon.

At least that way, you wouldn’t be hopping on the bandwagon at our expense.

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Triumph Dining Gluten Free Dining Out Cards – English & Spanish + Review

Gluten Free Dining Out Cards (English and Spanish Edition) by Triumph Dining

These cards help to explain to restaurant staff (in both English and Spanish) that you need to dine gluten free.  I have these and have used them for foreign travel.  In my opinion, they are an amazing help.  Check out my review.

Gluten Free Dining Out Cards (English and Spanish Edition)

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Starbucks: Certified Gluten Free Sandwich is on the Way!!

I’ve heard rumblings of this for a while, but at long last it seems it’s actually going to happen.  I’ve heard from two Starbucks location managers that gluten free breakfast sandwiches are on the way.  Apparently the launch date is on on around March 21.

These are to be certified gluten free sandwiches that are sealed and toasted in their own bag.

Thank you Starbucks!!!

About, from Starbucks:”At last, a breakfast sandwich for our gluten-free friends. Tasty cherrywood-smoked Canadian bacon, an egg patty and reduced-fat white cheddar on a gluten free roll. It’s all prepared in a certified gluten-free environment and sealed for your safety. We then warm it in its own oven-safe parchment bag to avoid any cross-contamination.”  Read more on Starbucks.com

Related: Are Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bites Gluten Free?

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Strict Gluten Free Eaters Beware… Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano

Biaggi’s has an extensive gluten free menu and touts their GF offerings.  As of this posting, this screenshot appears right on their home page.

Gluten-Free Dishes
A gluten-restricted diet doesn’t have to make your dining choices difficult. At Biaggi’s, we recognize the challenges of dietary restrictions and created a complete Gluten-Free menu to give gluten-intolerant guests a variety of meal options. Our gluten-free dishes infuse all of the flavor, care and quality you expect from Biaggi’s!

Two words stick out to me… “care” and “quality”.  Yeah…

This past Friday we went out to dinner with some friends.  They wanted to know if we had other options (than the two restaurants I can eat at).  I knew Biaggi’s (a midwestern-ish Italian restaurant) had a gluten free menu although I had heard and read mixed reviews about the celiac-friendliness of their menu.  I gave them a call to see what was up.  The resulting conversation ranks right up there as one of the most disturbing such conversations I’ve had.

The manager’s attitude seemed to be taken straight from the Jimmy Kimmel “school of dismissiveness of gluten issues”.  A few nuggets *no separate prep area, *no separate utensils, *”this is an Italian restaurant, your food is going to have some gluten in it”, *”we’ve had no one complain of getting sick” – GFF commentary… “yeah right” and maybe most jaw dropping for me… *”the pasta is boiled in the same water we use for regular pasta”

Quotes are paraphrases but capture the essence of what I was told.

Let me be clear, I do not expect every restaurant to be able to accommodate my food needs.  But I do expect to be treated with respect and when I read “care” and “quality” used in conjunction with a gluten free menu, I expect it to be true.

The menu does have a couple more disclaimers…

You may wish to call ahead for reservations and inform the host that you will need to order from the Gluten-Free Menu. Please inform the staff serving your table that your food needs to be wheat, oat, rye and barley-free.

Commentary… Seems good and reasonable to me.  Call ahead so they can take necessary steps to provide for you.  Yes!  Glad I called ahead to figure out they really just don’t care.

This menu is provided by Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano as a service to our guests. Biaggi’s assumes no responsibility for its use and any resulting liability or consequential damages are denied. Guests are encouraged to consider the information provided to their own satisfaction in light of individual needs and requirements.

Commentary… Standard cover your liability verbiage.  Biaggi’s… if you’re going to do this and at the same time use the words “care” and “quality” and have horrible training, customer service and respect for people.  Just stop it.  Remove care and quality and add another statement that says people with medically necessary gluten free diets stay away.

Shame on you Biaggi’s for jumping on the gluten free bandwagon at the expense of the health of others.  There’s no good reason why you can do a much better job at this.

This is going to be staff dependent, maybe your local Biaggi’s is super gluten conscience and celiac friendly.  Unfortunately, mine is not.

Update: I did receive a follow up email on this.  It was a mixed bag in my book.  I was told that some of the information I received was wrong but I also felt the person backed away from claiming their kitchen is fully celiac-safe.

A portion of the response I received…

I have reviewed your original letter, my response, and the website you attached with my Chef Partner. He and I agree that our practices and procedures produce the most Gluten Free (mistakes excepted) meals that we can in our cooking environment. We put the satisfaction of all our guests as our top priority and make every attempt to meet each and everyone’s needs. We realize, however, that there are somethings that we cannot do. Not for lack of effort or concern, it is that it is outside the parameters of business situation.

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Dear Mellow Mushroom…. Thank You! – now with Nima Test

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As a newer gluten intolerant Celiac [About Me] I have been able to find many foods that I do like.  Some of the things that we made at home were already gluten free and some just needed a little bit of tweaking.  That being said I have struggled to find a gluten free pizza that I really enjoyed.  Yes, they all looked like pizzas, but no, none of them were really actually good.

We had to make a Costco run last night and decided to give Mellow Mushroom a try.

I spoke with the server about gluten free options and she assured me that their location took cross contamination seriously.  Reading the GF menu closely it read… “Our cooks have been trained on the importance of preventing cross contamination.  The kitchen will wash hands, put on fresh gloves and a fresh apron, and only use gluten-free dedicated cooking utensils and ingredients. Everything is made to order, and prepared in a separate area. A screen pan is used during the baking process so the gluten-free crust never makes direct contact with the pizza stone”.

Ummm…. Yes!

Options include House Special, Gourmet White, Mighty Meat, Veg Out, Kosmic Karma and Cheese.  A variety of sauce options and toppings are available if you want to put your own pizza together.

We had the house special and it was delicious!  Crust and toppings were just outstanding.  I also had no gluten reaction.

According to the menu Mellow Mushroom uses Smart Flour Foods crust.  See: Smart Flour on Amazon

Here is an online copy of their menu.  That looks much the same, maybe identical to the menu I was given.  Of course, you’ll always want to verify gluten free options and procedures with your server and restaurant management.

Well done Mellow Mushroom!  Thank you for doing gluten free safely and deliciously!  You’ve earned yourself a new, regular customer!

Update: This post was originally written in May of 2016.  I have since eaten at my local Mellow Mushroom many times and continue to have great experiences.  I have since gotten a Nima Sensor Gluten Detector.

Nima Gluten Test 1/27/17 – Gluten Free House Special.  The smiley face indicates that this sample tested gluten free.

RelatedGluten Free Things I Actually Like

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Are Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bites Gluten Free?

On January 10, 2017 Starbucks released new Sous Vide Egg Bites at some US locations.  At launch, two versions were available “Egg White and Roasted Pepper” and “Bacon and Gruyere”.

As of this posting, both of these are billed as “wheat free”.

A motto article on these says, in part… “A representative for Starbucks said that the bites were inspired by gluten free customers who would peel the bread off of their sandwiches.”

I live in a relatively small town.  We have two Starbucks locations.  I speak to staff at both regularly and both locations know I have Celiac Disease and must eat and drink completely gluten free.  People at both locations gave me a heads up that these were on the way and told me they were gluten free.  Multiple staff at each location said the same thing.  I’ve also read as much from others on social media.

Are they gluten free?


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Nutritional Information on Starbucks Website. The nutritional information (see link below) for both versions says…

“We cannot guarantee that any of our products are free from allergens (including dairy, eggs, soy, tree nuts, wheat and others) as we use shared equipment to store, prepare and serve them.”

There is no indication in online nutrition information to suggest that these are GF.  No gluten free claims.

Inspection of the box these arrive in.  While at my local Starbucks, I asked to look at the box these come in and, again… no gluten free claims.

Starbucks Customer Care.  I emailed Starbucks Customer Care with the question of are Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bites gluten free?

First Response: The first response was, in part… “The delicious new sous vide egg bites are wheat free. I hope you are able to try them soon.”

Second Response: I replied back stating that wheat free does not equal gluten free and asked the same question again.  The second response was… a list of ingredients for both versions.  Of course GF status is impossible figure out from the ingredients as “natural flavors” is listed multiple times.  That response also came with the standard “We cannot guarantee…” language.  If these are made with gluten free ingredients… Starbucks certainly isn’t jumping at the chance to tell anyone.

Third Response: After pointing out that it’s impossible to tell if these are gluten free from the ingredients the response I received, in part… “The Sous Vide Egg Bites are not listed as gluten-free. We urge our customers with dietary concerns to proceed with caution as we cannot guarantee that any of our products, including the items that are prepared with gluten, are free from allergens (including dairy, eggs, soy, tree nuts, wheat and others) as we use shared equipment to store, prepare and serve them.”

Third time’s the charm, I guess.

Preparation and Cross Contamination.  Beyond ingredients, GF preparation is an issue.  A manager suggested that they would use clean tongs and use fresh paper to warm them on.  As a Celiac, I would not be comfortable with that.  It would still be baked in a chock-full-of-gluten oven.

Conclusion.  This all leads me to the conclusion that Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bites are not gluten free.

Starbucks continues to be generally unwelcoming to people that must eat gluten free for medical reasons.  It’s my understanding that official guidance from Starbucks suggests that we eat no site prepared food or drink items from a Starbucks location.  Things like almond milk, caramel syrup and more that could easily be sourced gluten free are not.

Let me be clear, I do not expect Starbucks to have on site dedicated GF facilities at each location.

What I would like to see is Starbucks… 1. Source GF ingredients – milks, syrups, sauces whenever possible – and it’s possible for many things, 2.  Clearly communicate gluten content via nutritional information and 3. Offer a few truly gluten free menu items.  Gluten free sandwiches could arrive in sealed toaster capable bags.  Gluten free pastries could arrived sealed and remain sealed until sold.

I’ve heard and read rumblings of additional gluten free offerings in the works, including certified gluten free sandwich options.  Not sure if there is any truth to those, but I hope they are accurate.

To Starbucks… If you all need to know a little more about gluten intolerance and Celiac Disease, walk out the front of your headquarters and take a right.  A block and a half down you’ll find Ghostfish Brewing Company (See: Hello Seattle… Gluten Free Trip Report).  Have a pint of GF beer and talk with the Brewmaster about the effects of Celiac Disease.  Read your emails and online customer feedback.  Celiac disease and other gluten related health issues are serious and life altering.  You have a huge market presence and could be a market leader in this area.

News Release – New Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bites | Nutritional Information – Egg White & Red Pepper – Bacon & Gruyere

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Chick-fil-A – A Step Backwards When It Comes to Gluten Free

chick-fil-a-logo

Chik-fil-A was one of my pre Celiac diagnosis favorite fast food restaurants.  Maybe my all time favorite.  I mourned the loss of being able to eat freely at CFA after being diagnosed.

After diagnosis, I was happy to learn that I had at least a couple options at Chik-fil-A including the waffle fries, grilled nuggets and a few sides.  Recently, looking around Chick-fil-A’s website, I noticed a few changes.

1.  Chick-fil-A no longer officially mentions which menu items contain gluten.  Their allergen matrix (linked below) lists only wheat, not specifically gluten.

2.  When I emailed Chick-fil-A about a list of gluten free menu items, I received the following response…

Because food allergies or intolerances can be very serious or even life threatening, Chick-fil-A believes equipping customers with ingredient information is the best way we can help. You and your physician can then make an informed decision whether any particular menu item is safe for your particular allergy or intolerance. Again, we encourage you to read through the ingredient statements we provide so you can make an informed decision. Ingredient and allergen information can be found at www.chick-fil-a.com.

Well… not so much as gluten isn’t listed in the allergen matrix.  Maybe a case of a hastily sent canned response, but still, not real helpful.

3.  This page…  http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Food/Allergen-Gluten-Diabetic – which once contained gluten specific information is gone.  It redirects to an unrelated page.

4.  A list of gluten free menu items, dated March 20,2014 is still available.  I received a copy when I asked customer service a second time.  Compare verbiage on that with previous information…

img_cfa

Here is a screenshot of the top portion of the 2014 document.  In part it reads “Please note that we do not have a gluten free prep area in our kitchens” compare to a previous version…

img_cfagl

Here is a screenshot of the top part of this page (http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Food/Allergen-Gluten-Diabetic) – now removed for CFA’s site – from 2013.  In part it says… “While we don’t have a gluten free prep area for these items, our procedures have been written to avoid cross contamination”

The more recent statement says nothing about procedures to avoid cross contamination.

5.  As of this posting, a search for the term gluten on Chick-fil-A’s site yields three results – one talks about Chick-fil-A’s grilled entree lineup, another talks about kid’s meals and the final talks about organic juice boxes.

Instead of getting better at gluten free, in my opinion, Chick-fil-A seems to be getting worse.  Considering their relatively simple menu and their focus on customer service, this is a big disappointment to me.

I know some people with gluten related conditions rely on CFA especially when traveling.

Chick-fil-A… Please work to make your gluten free offerings, procedures and communications better.

Update: Chick-fil-A: New Gluten Free Bun + What’s Gluten Free at Chick-fil-A

Related: Chick-fil-A Allergen List | 2013 Gluten Free Information (via archive.org) | Chick-fil-A 2014 Gluten Free Menu Items List | GF Chick-fil-A Nugget Copycat Recipe

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$50 Red Robin Gift Card on eBay Deals + My GF Experience at Red Robin

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As of this posting, eBay Deals is featuring a $50 Red Robin Gift Card for $45.  Prices and availability can change quickly.  Check the offering page to see if this is still available.

Red Robin Gift Card || eBay Daily Deals

I have Celiac Disease [About Me].  Personally, I’ve had great success eating gluten free at Red Robin.  Always ask the appropriate questions for your dietary needs.

I suggest using Find Me Gluten Free to look up restaurant reviews.  Also… do the gluten free community a favor and add fair reviews to Find Me Gluten Free and suggest locations that may not be listed.  Help us learn from your experience.

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$5 Off at Red Robin when you use Samsung Pay

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As of this posting Red Robin is offering $5 off when you pay your bill using Samsung Pay.  More Details.  I’m not sure when this expires.  The details say to see “Ziosk Robin tablet in restaurant for terms and conditions”

I have Celiac Disease [About Me].  Personally, I’ve had great success eating gluten free at Red Robin.  Always ask the appropriate questions for your dietary needs.

I suggest using Find Me Gluten Free to look up restaurant reviews.  Also… do the gluten free community a favor and add fair reviews to Find Me Gluten Free and suggest locations that may not be listed.  Help us learn from your experience.

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