I loved my delicious chicken piccata dinner with gluten free penne pasta at Pastina Pastaria in Bridgeport Village near Portland, Oregon. My wife was equally excited about her wheat-based rigatone dinner. The service was great and so were the deserts. The prices were amazing — if we had skipped desert, we could have had a sumptuous Italian Sunday dinner for about $10 each. While I was typing this, I heard my wife mention to her sister that this was “the best Italian food we’d had in years.” I agree.

I used my standard procedure for assessing the probability of eating safely in this restaurant: I had seen their gluten free menu posted on-line and had seen their ads  on celiac-friendly websites but I did not reveal any of this information until after lunch when I thanked them and gave them my business card. I needed to ask lots of questions to make sure that this specific group of people serving me understood their company’s policy and were able to execute it. While waiting to be served, I noticed a poster advertising the gluten free pasta. I am always pleased to see restaurants emphasizing their gluten free options. The waiter seemed totally gluten-savvy. He gently reminded my wife that her meal was not gluten free (which is OK, of course), and reassured me by announcing that my meal was gluten free when he served me. That’s a piece of waiter-etiquette that I deeply appreciate.

Pastini Pastaria operates six restaurants in Portland, Oregon and its suburbs as also serves Corvalis and Bend, Oregon.

Yesterday I began reporting the results of our survey. Here are the answers to the last two questions as well as ideas from the wonderfully-useful comments that you submitted. If you want to read the information about the first two questions before continuing, please click here.

Question 3. What do you do when you see the word “oats” in an ingredients label? 6% of you would ignore this “warning”. 49% might purchase the product if they could verify that the oats in question were “certified”. 46% would not purchase the product. Perhaps my article on “gluten free oats” will help you make a decision here.

Question 4. What do you do when you see the words “no gluten ingredients” on an ingredients label. 20% of you say that this means the same thing as “gluten free” and that the food is safe. 69% of you prefer the term “gluten free” but would consider buying this item. 11% would not consider this item acceptable.

Your comments fell into three categories:

→ questions about “gluten free” jargon. For example, “malt flavoring” is code for “contains barley”.

→ concerns about phrases that mean little or nothing such as “may contain wheat”.

→ issues about well-designed packages whose ingredients lists written in ways that require a bright light and a magnifying glass to read. There are many other examples of thing that suggest deliberate deception.

I will write articles on these three subjects beginning in two or three weeks. For now, I think it best temporarily move on to other subject.

“Read every ingredients label every time” is our best defense against consuming unsafe food, but it is far from perfect. Our recent survey confirmed the apprehension we all share when reading those lists.  More  importantly, the survey gave us insight into what other people living gluten free do in these touchy situations.

Question 1. Caramel coloring may may or may not be gluten free depending on how it is prepared, but 34% of you stated that you would not purchase a product containing caramel food coloring even if it was labeled gluten free. 37% of you felt that the product is safe — the gluten free label trumps the caramel food coloring listing. For 29% of you, it would be a toss-up, depending on the reputation of the company that posted the gluten free label. For more ideas on this subject, I suggest that you read my article about caramel food coloring.

Question 2. How do you react when you learn that a product was made in a “facility that processes wheat”? 57% said that they preferred items produced in wheat free facilities but would not rule out purchasing the item. 37% said “no”. 2% said that they would ignore the “warning” and purchase the item.

There are two more survey questions plus dozens of meaningful comments submitted by the people who took the survey. I will deal with these items tomorrow.

Yesterday, I wrote about my criteria for listing restaurants on this site. Basically, I list any restaurant that might be considered gluten free. All decisions rest with the individual, and I do not wish to limit your choices. Today, I will share my strategies for finding a gluten free restaurant meals. Click here if you would like to read or reread yesterday’s article before continuing.

When choosing a restaurant for myself. my criteria are more strict. I am now shifting to blue print, as I always do when I am stating personal opinions:

♦ First of all, my rules are much stricter at home where I have almost-total control. In a restaurant, there is always some risk. My goal is to improve my odds then sit back and enjoy my meal. Worrying is hard to avoid but is never helpful.

♦ Most of the people I dine with are aware of my situation and will allow me to choose the restaurant. I try to always have something in mind.

♦ When I make a reservation or sign in at a restaurant, I state that I require a gluten free meal. I’m always pleased when the person I am talking to is confused by what I am saying and asks a manager or some other knowledgeable person to come out and talk to me. (This happens more often than you might think.)

♦ I always use the word “allergy” even though this is not technically correct. Everybody knows what this means — “don’t feed this guy wheat, barley, rye, or oats”. (FYI, when I am not working on this site, I teach “English as a Second Language”. Many of my beginning students work in food service. Several people will be involved in preparing your meal. It is probable that at least one of them will be confused by the term “reaction” and frightened if you start talking about “autoimmune diseases. Keep it simple. Notice that this information in written in black; it factual not a matter of opinion”.)

♦ I prefer large restaurant chains. They got “big” because they offer good food and good service, they have large legal departments tasked with making sure that individual restaurants don’t make promises they can’t keep, and they are relatively easy to find.

♦ I do not usually pay much attention to people who tell me that they had a bad reaction after eating a specific food at a specific restaurant. Why did the return to the same restaurant and eat the same possibly-toxic food enough times to form a definite conclusion? When I suspect a problem at a restaurant, I do not return often enough to make a definite decision.

♦ For the same reason, I ignore most oral recommendations. The fact that a celiac visited a restaurant a few times does not constitute “

Yesterday, I wrote about my criteria for listing restaurants on this site. Basically, I list any restaurant that might be considered gluten free. All decisions rest with the individual, and I do not wish to limit your choices. Today, I will share my strategies for finding a gluten free restaurant meals. Click here if you would like to read or reread yesterday’s article before continuing.

When choosing a restaurant for myself. my criteria are more strict. I am now shifting to blue print, as I always do when I am stating personal opinions:

♦ First of all, my rules are much stricter at home where I have almost-total control. In a restaurant, there is always some risk. My goal is to improve my odds then sit back and enjoy my meal. Worrying is hard to avoid but is never helpful.

♦ Most of the people I dine with are aware of my situation and will allow me to choose the restaurant. I try to always have something in mind.

♦ When I make a reservation or sign in at a restaurant, I state that I require a gluten free meal. I’m always pleased when the person I am talking to is confused by what I am saying and asks a manager or some other knowledgeable person to come out and talk to me. (This happens more often than you might think.)

♦ I always use the word “allergy” even though this is not technically correct. Everybody knows what this means — “don’t feed this guy wheat, barley, rye, or oats”. (FYI, when I am not working on this site, I teach “English as a Second Language”. Many of my beginning students work in food service. Several people will be involved in preparing your meal. It is probable that at least one of them will be confused by the term “reaction” and frightened if you start talking about “autoimmune diseases. Keep it simple. Notice that this information in written in black; it factual not a matter of opinion”.)

♦ I prefer large restaurant chains. They got “big” because they offer good food and good service, they have large legal departments tasked with making sure that individual restaurants don’t make promises they can’t keep, and they are relatively easy to find.

♦ I do not usually pay much attention to people who tell me that they had a bad reaction after eating a specific food at a specific restaurant. Why did the return to the same restaurant and eat the same possibly-toxic food enough times to form a definite conclusion? When I suspect a problem at a restaurant, I do not return often enough to make a definite decision.

♦ For the same reason, I ignore most oral recommendations. The fact that one celiac had a reaction that may or may not be celiac related and did not return to confirm his or her suspicions does not constitute “proof”.

♦ Usually, I know exactly what I intend to order when I enter a restaurant. However, I always ask for the gluten free menu and always ask a lot of questions. I already know the answers, but I need to be sure that my waiter or waitress does too. If I am not satisfied, my choices are to leave the restaurant or ask that a knowledgeable be sent to my table. I hate doing either of those things, but it is better than worrying all through the meal that this food may make me sick.

I’d love to know your reactions to this article and your procedure for choosing a gluten free restaurant. E-mail m3 at gfceliac@gmail.com or leave a comment at the end of this or any article. I’ve got a hunch that I need to conduct a survey about how “real celiacs” choose a restaurant.

What restaurants are safe for people who live gluten free? There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this. It depends on each persons individual answers to these questions:

♦  Are you willing to eat in a restaurant that serves some foods that are not gluten free? Cross contamination is always possible in such a situation.

♦ Are you willing to eat in a restaurant in a restaurant that has a written “gluten free” menu or food list posted in the restaurant and/or on-line?

♦ Do you talk with waiters, chef, or managers before making a decision about a particular restaurant?

♦ Do you accept the recommendations of your gluten free friends and/or comments that celiacs have posted on-line?

My policy on this site is to list every restaurant that advertises gluten free options on-line, makes a gluten free menu available to its patrons. or has informed me in writing that it provides gluten free options.

As I stated on the front page of this site: “My mission is to provide information, not to give advice. All decision are left with you.” In keeping with that statement, I present all the possible options to you, thus enabling you to make the choices that are best for you.