Restaurants Now Offering Gluten-Free Food

Restaurants Now Offering Gluten-Free Food

By CAROLYN SUSMAN

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

The term "working lunch" has a new meaning for me, having attended the roll-out of a gluten-free menu by Legal Sea Foods' West Palm Beach restaurant.

Legal, a national chain, is joining the group of restaurants now catering to people with celiac disease, an autoimmune condition that makes sufferers deathly ill when they eat gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.

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And this lunch was to see what "worked" for the celiac patrons attending.

Nearly one in every 133 Americans suffers from celiac disease, but many of them are undiagnosed and unaware. If untreated, the disease can lead to other autoimmune disorders, infertility, neurological conditions, and even cancer.

Getting a diagnosis can be wrenching. The average length of time is 11 years. Meanwhile, the body's digestive tract is under siege, leading to problems absorbing nutrients. Sufferers often have severe diarrhea, abdominal cramping and distention and pain.

Harriet Boggi of Boynton Beach, a guest at the Legal luncheon and a member of the Southeast Florida Celiac-Sprue Support Group, lost 18 pounds from severe diarrhea before she was diagnosed. She was the first celiac patient her gastroenterologist had ever seen.

But she, as many others with this condition, likes to dine out. And that usually means cross-examining the chef before ordering or even touching anything on her plate. If there is any "cross-contamination" — an egg touching a piece of toast, for example — a celiac sufferer may become horribly sick soon after eating the contaminated food.

So it made sense to some restaurants to put themselves out to cater to celiac sufferers.

"Legal Sea Foods recognized that a great deal of our guests with celiac disease made inquiries about what they could eat prior to dining at our restaurants," the chain, based in Boston, said in a statement. "By creating a gluten-sensitive menu, Legal Sea Foods took the 'guess work' out of the experience for both the guest and the chef."

Chains such as the Olive Garden, PF Changs, and Outback have also created celiac-friendly menus.

The good news is that celiacs can control their conditions almost completely by excluding gluten from their diets. But that means they must be vigilant and well-educated. And knowing a restaurant has trained employees to recognize their condition and serve food accordingly means they will become a loyal fan base.

The menu prepared this day excluded cocktail sauce because that can have by-products sufferers can't eat, and featured gluten-free croutons in the caesar salad and gluten-free crumbs coating the baked Boston scrod.

The special wheat and gluten sensitive menu assures diners that "all cookware and plateware will be pre-washed and wiped dry before cooking and presentation." That is necessary to remove any threat of cross-contamination.

These menus didn't just happen by chance. They are the result of advocacy by groups of people who don't want their disease to exclude them from society. And acceptance by restaurant chains who want them to keep coming back.