UPDATE (1/13/10): Congratulations to reader Julie, who is the randomly selected winner of the guide.When my family and I dine out, we often try to patronize restaurants that have gluten-free menus or are gluten-free-friendly. Sometimes, however, we don't always have the option of choosing such a place. We were early adopters of the Triumph Dining restaurant cards, which we've had since 2005. (In 2005, co-founder Ross Cohen started the company in Philadelphia.) Triumph makes laminated cards in many languages that explain ingredient and cross-contamination concerns so that diners' meals can be prepared gluten free. Whenever we're at a restaurant that isn't familiar with the diet, we share our cards with our server and the kitchen.
In recent years, Triumph has introduced two other portable products: a restaurant compilation and a grocery guide. The restaurant guide, in its 4th edition, lists over 5,000 restaurants covering all 50 states. The newly released 3rd edition of Triumph's grocery guide is organized by grocery store aisle, with dairy products all listed in one place, frozen foods grouped together, and so on.
The grocery guide, covering over 30,000 products, is the only one available that shows which manufacturers disclose information about cross-contamination risks, dedicated production lines and facilities, and gluten testing of their products. Recognizing the high costs of gluten-free foods, Triumph has included store brands from some of the larger grocery chains to help shoppers stretch their budgets.Triumph Dining has been kind enough to offer a copy of its new grocery guide, a $19.95 value, to one lucky Gluten Free Philly reader. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment to this post about the best gluten-free grocery item you discovered in 2009. The restaurant cards and the guides (and discounted combo packs) can be purchased through Triumph's website, while the guides are available through Amazon.com.
Some brief guidelines: (1) please do not enter unless you or a family member is on a gluten-free diet; (2) one comment per person; (3) U.S. residents only.
Most important is to make sure your comment provides a way for me to contact you. If your comment does not link back to an email address, blog or website through which I can get in touch with you (some past entrants have blocked their Blogger profiles), post your email address in the comment in the following format: "name[at]domain[dot]suffix."
The giveaway runs now through Sunday, January 10 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. I’ll randomly select one winner the next day and will contact him or her by email. If I don’t hear back from the person with his or her mailing address by the following Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern, I’ll select another name.
Good luck!