Top Celiac or Gluten-Free Stories of 2009

The countdown is on.  With the end of the year coming quickly, I am looking at the top five stories regarding celiac disease and/or gluten-free in 2009.  Some will be well known stories, but I’m also picking the most popular post from my blog to place in the top five.

I’ll do three in this post and the top two in an upcoming post.  Here we go — drum roll please.

#5 Elisabeth Hasselbeck G-Free Book Drama

Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s G-Free Diet book and the subsequent lawsuits.  First the book came out in May with a lot of excitement surrounding it.  While the book did create awareness and some buzz, many in the blogosphere said there were some questionable parts that couldn’t be overlooked:  including sections where Hasselbeck sometimes tells people she has an allergy to gluten.  In her review of the book, Nancy Lapid talked about the allergy reference.  Also another concern is that people shouldn’t walk away from the book believing it is a great way to lose weight.

Not long after the book came out, Hasselbeck was sued for plagiarism by an east coast author Susan Hasset.  The Huffington Post followed this story, and reported a few times on the case, including when the lawsuit was tossed out by a judge in November.  “U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro dismissed the lawsuit last week after Hassett’s attorney declined to pursue it,” the website reported.  But by the beginning of December, the Boston Herald reported Hassett refiled the lawsuit and is representing herself after her attorney “failed to file paperwork in a timely manner”.

Either way, Hasselbeck’s book has been a New York Times Best Seller and she continues to ride the G-Free wave recently appearing on Dr. Oz.  I am guessing more people have heard the word celiac because of her as well.

#4 Where do you Find Gluten-Free French Fries

The blog post entitled Dining Out:  Finding Gluten-Free French Fries continues to be the most-read on my site and I posted it in February.  It seems as though french fries should be one of the simplest things to make.  But with processing and/or cross-contamination, most restaurant french fries are not gluten-free.

So I conducted a survey asking people where they were able to eat out and get french fries.  Turns out there are a handful of places in various parts of the country…but the most common was still McDonald’s french fries.  For much more explanation on why some celiacs eat the McD’s fries you’ll want to read the post.  But other places where celiacs told me we can get gluten-free fries include 5 Guys Burgers and Fries, Chick-Fil-A and In-N-Out Burger.

So while the subject of french fries might not be at the top of your celiac list for 2009, it is prominent on my list.

#3 Starbucks Giveth GF Cake and Taketh Away

This was a hard one.  I was happy to announce in January when Starbucks made a public plea on the internet for people to give feedback on what kind of gluten-free goodies they should have in their stores.

Then in the spring they announced it would be an orange cake.  It debuted on May 5th with much fanfare in the celiac community. Several times each week on Twitter you would hear people talking about how pleased they were they’d be able to have a treat at Starbucks when they have coffee — just like everyone else.

But a mere 10 weeks later– the cake was gone.  The only explanation came from Starbucks in the form of a “Tweet”, “We heard that it was too much of a treat, and not a nutritious snack. The [Kind Snacks] bar is replacing it.”  There was skepticism on Twitter in the days after about whether it wasn’t selling, but Starbucks never really responded to that.

Not sure how the Kind Snacks are doing amongst the gluten-free crowd, but maybe people are just grabbing a coffee and leaving the shop??

To be continued…  The top 2 celiac or gluten-free stories of 2009 coming on Monday!

Tags: 2009, book, cake, celiac, dining out, french fries, gluten-free, Hasselbeck, restaurant, Starbucks, stories