Gluten Free Charlotte: Gluten Free Events

Sunday, June 27, 2010

The Thoughtful Baker & Then Some...

Talk about an exciting week! Not only have I joined the first ever Charlotte, NC Gluten Free Expo events team, but I also met the Thoughtful Baker, Ms. Barbara D'Ambrosio herself. She is absolutely amazing and her cinnamon roll cakes are to die for. At a meeting last Thursday she brought them with her and I nearly died and went to heaven. They are fabulous morsels which were made without wheat, gluten and/or dairy. Awesome! And, of course, she is just as wonderful. Very friendly, witty and easy going - even that is not doing her justice. All I can say is, if you are attending the expo, she will be there and you must go by to say hello. She is really "all that and a bag of chips"!

Now, what was I doing that I met her you ask? Well, I had dropped a line to the originator of the Gluten Free Expo in Charlotte, Ms. Nikki Everett, and received a call back. Seems their planning is moving right along, but they could use an extra hand. So on Thursday night, I hauled myself from work in Uptown to the Dillworth area and met the ladies for my first of a handful of meetings to come. It was there I met Barbara. We chatted, we shared information, we laughed. It was great.

The event is going to be a success you should not miss. Whether you are coming to the event or not, though, I will be photographing as much as I can and giving you all the updates. Who was there? What were they sampling? What is new? What was the best and just okay? You name it, I will tell you all about it. Leave a comment if you want to know anything in particular. If you are going to be there, I would love to catch up as well - just let me know. I will be the perky blonde in staff clothing:)

Can't Wait!

Check out The Thoughtful Baker, LLC. website at www.TheThoughtfulBaker.com - its tasty.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Gluten Free Expo Coming to Charlotte!!

This just in, a Gluten Free Expo is coming to Charlotte on August 7th. It will be hosted at the Johnson & Wales University/Charlotte Campus from 10AM - 4PM. In order to attend you must pre-register, attendance is limited to 350 people. So hurry and sign up!

There will be over 40 different vendors, including: Farmo Pasta, The Thoughtful Baker, Attune Probiotic Wellness Bars and so many more.

Also, Chef Peter Reinhart from Johnson & Wales will be demoing throughout the day. Plus, Dr. Ivor Hill, Chief Pediatric Gastroenterologist at Wake Forest Medical University will be speaking on "Celiac Disease:What's New".

Don't miss out on this. The link to learn more about the expo and pre-register is below.

http://charlottegfexpo.blogspot.com/

I will be in attendance so let me know via email if you decide to go too. Hope to see you all there!

Celiac Disease by the Numbers

1 out of every 133 Americans (about 3 million people) has CD.
97% of Americans estimated to have CD are not diagnosed.
CD has over 300 known symptoms although some people experience none.
Age of diagnosis is key: If you are diagnosed between age 2-4, your chance of getting an additional autoimmune disorder is 10.5%. Over the age of 20, that rockets up to 34%.
30% of the US population is estimated to have the genes necessary for CD.
2.5 babies are born every minute in the USA with the genetic makeup to have CD.
There are 15 states in the US with populations less than the total number of Celiacs in the US.
CD affects more people in the US than Crohn’s Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease combined.
500,000 new Celiac diagnoses are expected to occur in the US by 2012 -- thanks to efforts to raise public awareness of the disease.
People with CD dine out 80% less than they used to before diagnosis and believe less than 10% of eating establishments have a 'very good' or 'good' understanding of GF diets.
It takes an average of 11 years for patients to be properly diagnosed with CD even though a simple blood test exists.
The average cost of misdiagnosis is $5,000 - $12,000 per person per year. Improving the time to diagnosis could save the health care system millions of dollars annually in unnecessary medical care.
A recent study by Packaged Facts projects that the sales of GF food will reach $2.63 Billion by 2012.
GF foods are, on average, 242% more expensive then their non-GF counterparts.
The smallest amount of gluten which has been shown by a biopsy to cause damage to a Celiac is 0.1 gram per day - or 1/48th of a slice of bread.
The Food Allergen Labeling & Consumer Protection Act became law in 2006 allowing for easier reading of food labels for those with CD. What took so long?
12% of people in the US who have Down Syndrome also have CD.
6% of people in the US who have Type 1 Diabetes also have CD.
Among people who have a first-degree relative diagnosed with celiac, as many as 1 in 22 people may have the disease.
There are currently 0 drugs available to treat CD.