<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
The Celiac Database (http://www.celiacdatabase.org) was able to negotiate
the purchase of a commercial database of manufacturer names and addresses.
These have been added and there are now over 240,000 entries in the
database. This information can be accessed in two different ways.
The first is to use the "Manufacturer Query" page:
http://www.celiacdatabase.org/mQuery.asp. On this page, you can type in
the digits from a product's bar code and click "Submit". For instance,
if you type in 05150002339, which appears on jars of Smucker's Simply
100% Fruit Black Cherry, you will see contact info for the Smucker's
company. This is a quick and easy way to get info.
The second is to use the "Manufacturer Search" page:
http://www.celiacdatabase.org/msearch.asp. On this page, you can type
in a search string, such as "Smucker" (Note: omit the quotes), click
"Submit" and you will get a list of manufacturers whose name includes
this string. Click the "Info" button next to the desired manufacturer
and you will get their contact info.
By legal agreement, this info is for personal info only and should not be
sold, traded or published in any way. Please do not write to me and ask for
a copy of this database. I am legally bound not to release it.
The purchased database only contained names and addresses. It did not
contain info such as web site URL, 800 number, etc. If you display a
manufacturer's info, see that some of this info is not in the database and
you know what it is, please send in that info so it can be added. A button
labeled "Update manufacturer info" has been added to the page that displays
the manufacturer info. It appears after the info at the bottom of the page.
Click it and an info update page will appear. Make the needed changes and
then click "Submit".
Submitting updated info increases the value of the database to all the
Celiac community. The database is a free, community-service and its value
is enhanced with your help. If you think this is a good idea, then consider
supporting it with a couple minutes of your time.
This is true as well for the newest part of the database which contains info
about stores and restaurants. Anyone who's been on this listserv for any
time knows that one of the most frequent posts is the ubiquitous, "I'm
traveling to <city>, <state>, <county>. Can someone send me info about
stores and restaurants in that area?" The Celiac Database addresses this by
providing a database of stores and restaurants. It provides searches by
city, state and country and also by zip code. Searches can be done online
or by cell phone or other wireless device. This is a boon for travelers.
Once they reach their destination, they can use a laptop or cell phone to
easily locate nearby celiac-friendly stores and restaurants.
Of course, it's the data that makes these features valuable. Currently,
there are just a couple hundred stores and restaurants listed. However, if
everyone on this list submitted just one store and/or one restaurant, that
number would literally grow to thousands overnight. It's just a matter of
whether people want to turn this into something incredibly useful.
Stores and restaurants can be submitted on the page,
http://www.celiacdatabase.org/vSubmit.htm Included on the page are two
fields of special note. One is a field for comments. This turns the
listing into more than just a name and address. It lets other celiacs
know what to expect at the store or restaurant. The other is a rating
(1 to 5 stars) that indicate how celiac-friendly the place is.
If there are any questions or suggestions, please let me know.
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