From our great feedback and suggestions, the update for version 1.5 has been submitted to Apple for review.  This release includes the following features and fixes:

• significant performance upgrade on downloading data from our web server
• the recommendation flow has been updated with photos as an option instead of requirement, although we suggest adding a photo if possible
• some user interface updates in the nearby screen

Push notifications will start going out for those of you who opted in to the feature.  When a recommendations comes in that is in your city, then you will receive a notification - similar to SMS.  

We have also given the home page a fresh new design.  

Very proud to release version 1.5 of our iPhone app that includes some really cool features.  The performance and efficiency of this application is significantly better than the original release.  The interface is fresh and lightweight with improvements in the interaction.  

Now that I’ve recovered from the holidays, I can share my joys of baking gluten free goodies with all of you. Over the years I’ve managed to collect various recipes from family, friends, strangers in the gluten free aisle at the local grocery store. The one thing I had not attempted was to make my own bread- it just seemed like an unattainable goal for an amateur baker like myself.  Memories of fresh home made bread were long gone. Eating store bought bread has been a reality for me. As I was scouring the internet for last minute Christmas gifts, I came across something so great I couldn’t resist my impulse finger from adding it to my “shopping cart”.  I found the best gluten free bread maker! It’s by Cuisinart CBK-200, it was inexpensive, stainless steel (not an eyesore sitting on the counter), and easy to use.  Well, to be honest its the only gluten free bread maker I’ve ever tried, but it’s amazing. I didn’t use the recipe that came in the manual but rather another recipe I had come across on Karina’s gluten free blog- but was too afraid to attempt it without a bread maker.

My first attempt with the bread maker failed…I was disheartened I followed the recipe to a T. But the loaf was hard and dense and doughy in some parts. I knew I must have made an error somewhere along the way. I reviewed all my ingredients and wanted to kick myself when I realized I had used expired yeast! Since I had gone through the trouble of buying all the ingredients, I thought I deserved another chance. The Cuisinart bread maker beeps to allow the baker to remove the dough to shape it or add seeds and remove the mixing paddle. I did remove the dough to shape it and place some sesame seeds on the loaf. I didn’t remove the paddle ( I meant to, but I forgot). Attempt number two was a grand success, not only did the bread turn out moist, it tasted like “real” bread. I had toast and sandwiches all week, before I knew it the loaf was gone. A little dangerous for someone that hasn’t had a yummy bread in many years.  I had to make additional loaves to share with my family. Once I get tired of this bread, probably won’t happen, I will venture out and try different recipes. This recipe and the bread maker are definitely  keepers.

Informative discussion about Celiac Disease on The View with Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

CeliacFeed.com

Around 15-25% of the consumers make gluten-free purchases, but only 1% have celiac disease.  If everyone with celiac disease was diagnosed, there would be about 3 million cases in the U.S. alone according to University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research in Baltimore.

A recent USAToday article outlines the upward trend or fad towards gluten-free products with many who do not have any symptoms of celiac disease.  Of course with this trend brings a larger variety of gluten-free products and restaurant options that can be found at CeliacFeed.  Some of the negatives associated with a gluten-free diet are outlined in this article as well, including a lack of vitamins.

There is a definite upwards trend that is described by the Yahoo Search Buzz around gluten-free and celiac disease related searches.  The most popular keyword searches are listed below:

1. Gluten-free diet
2. Gluten-free foods
3. Gluten-free recipes
4. Gluten intolerance
5. Gluten allergy
6. What is gluten
7. List of gluten-free foods
8. Gluten-free bread
9. Gluten intolerance symptoms
10. Gluten-free restaurants

During the holidays last week Apple released version 1.1 with a few bug fixes to our registration and login screens.  Other updates included a performance improvement of the nearby locations screen with quicker load times.

We have some exciting new features in the works including the ability to publish and read posts from our gluten-free community.  The user interface design is in development stages and should be ready soon.  The new year will bring many new features to CeliacFeed for the community to enjoy.

CeliacFeed has been active with new recommendations from our iPhone users and new locations waiting to be discovered.

We would love to hear your feedback or suggestions for new features, contact@celiacfeed.com

Introducing the new discovery feature to facilitate the search for gluten-free restaurants.  The search bar accepts cities and returns a map with pins locating the recommendations from the CeliacFeed community.  The search page is AJAX-y, meaning it will return the results without a page reload to allow visitors to quickly search multiple cities.

The search page will also return a listing below with more details and links to the restaurant location map, comments and the number of ‘likes’.  Please send your feedback for the discover feature to contact@celiacfeed.com.

The application detects your location with GPS technology on your iPhone and communicates with the CeliacFeed server to determine the closest gluten-free recommendations based on your current location.  The screenshot above is an example of the closes recommendation listing on the app main screen.  The settings screen includes a setting that allows the user to select metric calculations with distance displayed in kilometers instead of miles as shown above.

After selecting the desired location in the list above, the detail screen is displayed (as shown below) with the user comments, map with location and the phone number.  The map pin can be clicked to initiate the iPhone Maps application with the directions route calculated.

We are very excited to bring the gluten-free recommendations to the iPhone! The iPhone app includes GPS location detection to provide nearby restaurant recommendations with the ability to obtain directions from the current location to the restaurant.  The iPhone application development combined with the location-based nature of celiacfeed.com has brought many interesting features to our project.

CeliacFeed is an innovate way to discover and locate gluten-free restaurants and products with others living with Celiac’s Disease. Share your gluten-free experiences through CeliacFeed for others to enjoy in your city. Add recommendations straight from your iPhone. Looking for a restaurant with gluten-free items on their menu? CeliacFeed will make use of the GPS on your iPhone to locate the nearest restaurant based on other user recommendations.

The app will be available soon after Apple approves it for iTunes App Store.

I was recently shopping in Bellingham with my mom. We both have a gluten allergy so finding a place for lunch is always a little bit difficult. The food court is often off limits due to the potential for contamination. So we ventured outside of the mall and saw Boston’s - we figured it might be safe to get a salad for lunch. As we sat down with our menus, not only were we pleasently surprised to see that they restaurant chain now offers gluten free pizza but also that the server was prepared with a list of sauces and ingrediants that should be avoided in individuals with a gluten allergy or intolerance. We started off with cactus cut potatoes with sour cream (the prepared sauce is not gluten friendly), then finished off with amazing vegetarian GF pizza! The crust was doughy yet still a thin crust, but not super thin that the pizza couldn’t be eaten by hand. We were in heaven! I ate more than my fair share and then ordered a pizza to go for the next day.