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Celiac Disease Foundation kicked off Celiac Disease Awareness Month with a
fantastic all day conference in Pasadena, CA.  The CDF Annual Education
Conference and Food Faire held last Saturday, May 2nd in the new ballroom at
the Pasadena Convention Center, was attended by over 

550 people and 57 exhibitors.  

 

The program included talks by four experts in the field of celiac disease:
Joseph Murray, MD from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Stefano Guandalini,
Director of the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, Steven
Plogsted, PharmD from Nationwide Hospital, Columbus, Ohio and Francisco,
Leon, MD, PhD, Executive Medical Director, Alba Therapuetics, Baltimore,
Maryland. There were sessions for tweens and teens, newly diagnosed adults
and parents of celiac children as well as dieticians available to address
gluten-free diet issues.  Drs. Murray and Guandalini graciously sat with
attendees answering their individual questions.  Special guest Frank
Baldassare wowed the audience with his presentation of “The Missing
Ingredient”.  The “Ask The Restaurant” panel discussion addressed the hot
topic of restaurant contamination.  Trish Cyrs, CDF Virginia Chapter
President, was presented the 2009 Champion for Celiac Disease Awareness
Award and Max Renke from New Hampshire showed us why he was the Celiac Teen
Advocate extraordinaire.  

 

Every attendee received a large canvas bag, courtesy of Chex Brand Cereals
filled with gluten-free goodies including a full size box of Rice Chex.
Everyone received a big surprise with the announcement from Betty Crocker,
CDF’s new sponsor, that 4 of their baking mixes will be gluten free and on
supermarket shelves in June. The samples of their new gluten-free brownies
were a delicious hit.

 

The day started with a continental breakfast including Rice Chex cereal,
assorted Breads From Anna and Ener-G Foods Biscotti. Each table held a
basket of breads and crackers from French Meadow Bakery, Breads From Anna,
Schär and The Kitchen Table Bakers as a three course sit down lunch was
served. The most delicious chocolate soufflé dessert by Three Senses
Gourmet, Cookies by Shabtai Gourmet and Arico completed the luncheon.  

 

Throughout the day, the exhibitor tables provided a vast assortment of
samples for tasting.  One of a kind baskets filled with products donated by
generous vendors and beautifully put together by our good friends at Simply
Gluten Free, were raffled throughout the day.  Everyone left with knowledge,
product information and lots of goodies.

 

The reviews are in and everyone agrees that the CDF Conference did a great
job of generating awareness of celiac disease, sharing current information
and expanding gluten-free food choices. The CDF Conference gets bigger and
better every year!

 



 

13251 Ventura Blvd. Suite 1

Studio City, CA 91604

818-990-2354 phone

818-990-2379 fax

 <http://www.celiac.org/> www.celiac.org 

 


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