Update: First. An image of the gluten free items in question. And a Subway spokesperson released a statement and said: "Gluten-free is something on the radar. There are number of people at Subway who are particularly interested in gluten-free items for their own particular digestive needs. It’s not something that’s unusual to us.”

Subway Restaurants announced that they will be testing out gluten free rolls and gluten free brownies in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Tyler/Longview, TX markets starting the week of January 10th. I've got one word, well two... cross contamination. Even though the company says that, "All Subway gluten-free rolls and brownies being used during the test come prepackaged and individually wrapped. Sandwich Artists are instructed through a tutorial video to cut the roll with a pre-wrapped knife and only use once. The same sandwich artist will prepare the order from beginning to end, so only one set of hands will touch the sandwich, eliminating cross contamination. The process is very thorough to ensure a 100% gluten-free product. Extra measures are taken to ensure gluten does not contaminate other foodstuff such as meat, cheese, and vegetables."

Personally, I wouldn't even attempt to test this out. The risk of cross contamination, even with all of their so-called precautions is just WAY too high for my liking. I'd much prefer some Boar's Head Turkey and from-my-home gluten free bread any day over Subway. Subway will have A LOT to prove to the gluten free community before we accept them as a place to have a safe meal. That being said, I'm curious to see how this plays out for them. I'm also curious why they chose only Texas areas to test this out in. I'll keep you posted if I hear anything further on this. And if you happen to be in the testing market areas and are brave enough to try this out... let me know!!

For more information about the Subway chain, visit www.subway.com.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For the past year, AllergyEats founder Paul Antico has encouraged restaurants to better accommodate food allergic and intolerant diners because it’s the right thing to do. Now, the financial expert is demonstrating another benefit to catering to the food allergy community: it can significantly increase restaurants’ profits.

“A key factor for restaurants is the ‘veto vote.’ If one person in a party has food allergies, the entire group will likely go to a restaurant that can accommodate that one individual. The food allergic diner will ‘veto’ restaurants that won’t cater to his or her specific needs” Antico, a former stock fund manager with 17 years at Fidelity Investments, leveraged his financial analysis background to determine how much economic power the food allergy and Celiac disease community can influence.

“Millions of Americans – or roughly 5% of the general population – have known food allergies or gluten intolerance, and restaurateurs should recognize the tremendous spending power of this community,” Antico explained.

Assuming that 20% of the food allergic population will never feel comfortable dining out, while another 20% will try to eat anywhere, that still leaves 9 million food allergic diners that can be won over by allergy-friendly restaurants. Yet this number dramatically underestimates the true economic value of serving the food-allergic population, given that most diners eat out with other people.

“A key factor for restaurants is the ‘veto vote.’ If one person in a party has food allergies, the entire group will likely go to a restaurant that can accommodate that one individual. The food allergic diner will ‘veto’ restaurants that won’t cater to his or her specific needs,” Antico explained.

“I’ve made a conservative assumption that the average party dining out includes only three people, two of whom do not have food allergies. This estimate is especially conservative given the greater prevalence of food allergies in children, who often eat out with a party of four or more. Therefore, the “winnable” food allergic diner community – 3% of the total US population – actually translates into a 9% or greater potential increase in business for an allergy-friendly restaurant,” Antico continued.

As an example, the casual dining chain Chili’s averages roughly $3 million in sales per restaurant annually. On each sales dollar, Chili’s earns about 15c in profit. Since restaurants have considerable fixed overhead (rent, staff salaries, etc.), it’s reasonable to assume that every additional sales dollar generates 25c (or more) in profit.

Therefore, a 9% increase in sales at a typical Chili’s would equate to approximately $270,000 per year. That translates into an additional $50,000 or more in annual profits for an “allergy-friendly” Chili’s versus a similar but “allergy-unfriendly” restaurant. Even if a restaurant is already at or near capacity during weekend prime times, by becoming more allergy-friendly, they can still increase their profits by tens of thousands of dollars annually.

Savvy restaurateurs understand the financial benefits of providing an allergy-friendly environment. Many restaurant owners are wisely taking extra precautions to accommodate food allergic and intolerant guests, having their employees trained in allergy safety, creating gluten-free menu options, providing ingredient lists, and seeking industry certifications.

“As the father of food allergic children, I avoid restaurants that won’t accommodate my sons’ special dietary requirements. I’d rather take my family of seven to an allergy-friendly establishment instead. Others within the food-allergy community feel similarly,” Antico explained. “The feedback is clear – if a restaurant doesn’t have food allergy protocols in place, these dining parties will take their business elsewhere.”

“From a purely business perspective, it’s in restaurants’ best interests to accommodate the food allergy population, as it can lead to significantly higher profits,” Antico continued. “The objective, peer-based feedback on AllergyEats makes it easier for the food allergy community to find allergy-friendly restaurants and avoid those that don’t measure up.”

AllergyEats is a free, user-friendly website that provides valuable peer-based feedback about how well (or poorly) restaurants accommodate food-allergic customers. Antico started AllergyEats after dining out with his two food-allergic children and becoming frustrated by the inconsistencies in restaurants – some were willing and able to accommodate food-allergic diners and some were not. He created AllergyEats as a resource that offers restaurant feedback specific to food allergies.

For more information, please visit www.AllergyEats.com.

I am what you would call a "simple" chef and get very scared off by new recipes. You still won't find me baking anything extravagant with a million different ingredients BUT I will venture towards the edge... a little bit... and share my experiences and recipes with you. Do you have any recipes for me to attempt? Email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with your challenge and be featured on the website and blog!

Centennial, CO (PRWEB) December 29, 2010

Whether you have Celiac disease, gluten intolerance or just know that living gluten free is a healthier lifestyle these quick and easy recipes will make this diet a delight. Betty Crocker Gluten Free Recipe Collection will be on newsstands across the country on December 29, 2010. Gluten free expert, Jean Duane, Alternative Cook teamed up with the Betty Crocker test kitchen to develop fast and foolproof recipes such as: Best-Ever Banana Bread, Dinner Rolls, Homemade Pizza (featured on the cover), Apple Pie, Apricot Muffins with Almond Streusel Topping, Cornbread, Sugar Cookies, Waffles, Cinnamon Scones and Gravy. The Sandwich Bread is sure to become a regular in every gluten free household.

We were on our flight to NY this past Friday morning. We flew JetBlue (the only airline left who gives good, FREE, snacks and an actual whole can of soda or bottle of water) and I was planning on asking for the usual Terra Chips I get to nosh on. But when the flight attendant came around and was listing off the snacks to our row she mentioned PopCorners and said they were amazing. Ron asked to see the package for me, since he knows just as well as me what is gluten free, and sure enough it said right on the package GLUTEN FREE. So now I'm super excited about our new find and I try the first one - Kettle Flavor - and amazing would be an understatement. The chips are sweet and salty... but more sweet than salty if you ask me, which make them quite tasty. The texture of the chip is more chip like than popcorn with a nice crunchiness to it. You can see the actual corn kernels in the chips which is pretty neat... and reassuring that there are no fillers.

These are definitely being added to my list of favorite snacks. I highly recommend these "chips". You can find them on the company website, listed below, at select grocers near you or by the link below (which is the cheapest I've found). I just ordered a case!

The video seems to not be updated yet so I'll keep checking back. Visit the link below for the full recipe on the GMA website.