Quick Update From Happy Tummy Baking Company

Happy Tummy Baking Company is now available at the new North Raleigh Whole Foods. Happy Tummy's crusts, in addition to being gluten-free, do not contain yeast or any of the 8 major allergens.

The product is 12" round and can also be found in the freezer section at the Raleigh Wade Ave, Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill Whole Foods.

Maria Hopper
Happy Tummy Baking Company

Moonlight Bakery Update

Moonlight Bakery now has a bakery shelf available daily at the Dinner Savvy in Apex.  Call Dinner Savvy at 303-3119 for more information including store hours.

We will no longer be available for home deliveries. But we will still take orders throughout the month for pick-up at the store whenever we have our ON-LOCATION event once a month.  Be sure to visit us on Facebook or our Web site for those dates!

We are also beginning to make Cupcake Towers for birthday parties and other such events. We have just added some new products to our website as well. Please check them out and let us know if there are any other products you would like for us to work on.

Shanah,
Moonlight Bakery

Quick Update From Happy Tummy Baking Company

Happy Tummy Baking Company is offering a 10% discount on all pizza crusts sold at Whole Foods now through April 12th. The discounted price is $6.29/ crust. Happy Tummy's crusts, in addition to being gluten-free, do not contain yeast or any of the 8 major allergens.

The product is 12" round and can be found in the freezer at the Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill Whole Foods. It is available by request (temporarily not on display in the freezer but they have a supply in the back) at the Wade Ave. Raleigh Whole Foods. Not available yet at the new North Raleigh store.

Try it while it's on sale for a quick, easy meal and satisfy your pizza cravings!

Maria Hopper
Happy Tummy Baking Company

Juno Nutrition: Reference for the RTP Gluten Free

Introduction:
Zach has reached out to several of us with area Gluten Free and Celiac related businesses to do guest posts.  If you are interested, or have comments for him, please let him know.

I was diagnosed with Celiac disease in 2006, right before the birth of our first child.  Like, Zach, I have DH.  I'd had symptoms for over 15 years by the time I was properly diagnosed (that in itself is a painful story).  In 2009 I first met Zach and we talked about ways to make it easier to find GF foods.  Result #1 is below.

This map is put together from all of the area GF information that Zach has captured over the past several years, as well as data we've gathered from setting up maps at GF events at Whole Foods and Earth Fair.  Click on any of those locations in our system and you'll see the local menu.  You'll see which items are known to be gluten free and which are not, as well as how we sourced the information.

That's just the start.  We also make it easy to add new information, be it on packaged goods (like what you'd find at a grocer) or on prepared foods (like what you'd find at a restaurant) for anyone who is a registered member.  We've been focused on adding locations and products for the greater triangle area.  At this point we've got most of the information from Zach's site imported in, easy to search and posted to maps where relevant.

The site is now free for area users and we would greatly appreciate your feedback.  We took the name Juno Nutrition, for the Roman Goddess Juno, who was defender of the community.  Her epithet (your literary professor's term for slogan) was "Juno warns." 

Fred Lybrand
Founder - Juno Nutrition

Gluten Free Focus Group - UNC CH Study

My name is Kelsey Merlo and I am a student at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.  I am working on a class project for my business degree in the Kenan-Flagler Business School, and I was wondering if my team and I could enlist your help. 

We are hoping to complete a focus group to explore people's perceptions of gluten-free foods and the various competitors.  We hope to meet with a group of people (6-10) who have gluten-free lifestyles to discuss the different types of food available to them. 

We would be willing to meet at the Caribou Coffee in Raleigh (3300 Duraleigh Road, Raleigh NC 27612) on Thursday, March 3^rd at 6pm. 

As my team and I are a group of students, we are unable to provide monetary reimbursement for participation.  However, we would greatly appreciate anyone who is interested in participating, and they may contact me at the information below for any questions and/or concerns they may have. 

Additionally, if anything  is unclear or you have any questions and/or concerns, please let me know as well.  I greatly appreciate your thoughtful consideration of that matter.

Thank you,
Kelsey Merlo
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Kenan-Flagler Business School
Kelsey_Merlo@kenan-flagler.unc.edu
919.272.1134

Celiac Disease Research News

Since starting Custom Choice Cereal for a gluten-intolerant friend in 2009 there has rarely been a day where I didn't learn something new about celiac disease.  However, I am again and again amazed by how little is known about the triggers for celiac disease and why exactly it is on the rise, as research by Dr. Alessio Fasano from the University of Maryland's Center for Celiac Research indicates. 

I also like to stress that unlike many other conditions, a strict adherence to a gluten-free diet is an (the only!) effective treatment for the autoimmune disease. While that sounds stressful and can initially be overwhelming we like to look at the bright side of things: absolutely no medication is needed!

Researchers from the University of Chicago's Celiac Disease Center used mice to identify a biochemical interaction that may trigger an autoimmune reaction in the intestines of genetically susceptible people. Specifically, they found that the compound retinoic acid in combination with high levels of the a pro-inflammatory substance known as interleukin-15 was able to break the body's tolerance to gluten.