<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
BOSTON (February 24, 2010) - If you or a loved one is prone to food
allergies, you know the challenges of finding a restaurant where everyone will
feel comfortable.
That search has just gotten easier.
A new website, _www.allergyeats.com_ (http://www.allergyeats.com) ,
combines the best of Internet technology with peer-to-peer information to help
people know in advance how well (or poorly) a restaurant responds to people
with food allergies and other food intolerances, such as Celiac Disease.
The website lists over 600,000 restaurants in the United States and is
searchable by geographic location, provides maps and driving directions, lists
phone numbers and includes menus, industry certifications and other
information of interest to food allergy sufferers when available.
Users are encouraged to help the rest of the food allergy community by
answering three simple questions (takes less than a minute) about their dining
experience. The answers are compiled into an objective
"allergy-friendliness rating" that gives users instantaneous at-a-glance information about the
"allergy friendliness" of specific restaurants.
There is also a place on the site for written comments, which will be
monitored to ensure they contain only food-allergy related opinions.
"This site is an outgrowth of the difficulty I have in finding a place
where my two food-allergic children can eat," said Paul Antico, who spent 20
months researching and designing the site.
There are about 12 million people with food allergies in the United States.
Over 2 million people have Celiac Disease as well.
AllergyEats is endorsed by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
(AAFA) of Washington, the AAFA New England Chapter of Boston and the Gluten
Intolerance Group of Auburn, WA, amongst others.
"In addition to helping people with food allergies, AllergyEats is a good
tool for the restaurant industry," Antico said. "Restaurateurs can see how
their individual locations are faring, and can learn from comments about
other restaurants what works and doesn't work for people with food allergies."
While there are other online sites for people with food allergies, none
combines the comprehensiveness of the AllergyEats listings with objective
ratings and comments area.
"AllergyEats is really a living, breathing organism that will grow and
become increasingly useful as people share information on the site. I am happy
to offer this to the food allergy community, and I can't wait to see how it
develops," Antico said.
*Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the Celiac List*
Archives are at: Http://Listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?LIST=CELIAC
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