It's time for the roundup chat with Ellen Bayens of theceliacscene.com. May is Celiac Awareness Month and Ellen and I start things off with a call to help spread awareness. It can be as simple as a conversation with those around you, or you can attend an event that might be happening near you. You can find out more about Celiac Canada's plans on their website www.celiac.ca.

Ellen brings to our attention a study in Italy of school children to help identify more celiacs at a young age. The interesting thing here is that the initial testing is done with one drop of blood, then children who are positive go on for further testing. Sounds simple and hopefully this test can be used more widely in the future. Ellen brings us up to date on the current practice of diagnosing and managing patients with refractory celiac disease – a condition that does not respond completely to the gluten free diet.

Covid-19 vaccines have been controversial, but what was understood is that the celiac population responded similarly to the overall population with the vaccine. A recent study showed that unvaccinated celiacs are more likely than the general unvaccinated population to be hospitalized and suffer more ill effects.

Ellen made a discovery at Walmart! Walmart is selling the Schar brand of gluten free foods, but what Ellen found at her local store was a treasure trove of all gluten free Schar foods brought into Canada. Different stores carry different products, and may place then in different aisles, but if you look, you may be richly rewarded.

During this month Ellen will oblige me by asking two questions on her social media – firstly, as a consumer would you like to see, in a grocery store, all the gluten free food together, or mixed in with the regular food in the separate aisles? And second, how do you feel about store brands of gluten free foods, cookies, pizzas etc., co-packed, marked gluten free, and with the store branding? Is this something you would purchase and support?

Hopefully, you'll weigh in on our two questions and Ellen and I can discuss the responses at the beginning of May.

Here are links to some of the topics and articles we spoke about –

NEWS FROM THE CELIAC SCENE

Let's Keep the Symptoms of Celiac Disease Top of Mind High Prevalence & Under-Diagnosis of Celiac Disease Identified in Italy Clinical Practice Update | Diagnosing and Managing Refractory Celiac Disease Expert Asserts Unvaccinated Celiacs Twice as Likely to be Hospitalized with Covid Be Wowed by What I Discovered at Walmart!

A CANADIAN CELIAC PODCAST

What is Tapas and is it Safe for Celiacs? Gluten Free Certification Program Cruising Gluten Free Gluten-Free Baker on Wheels on 'A Canadian Celiac Podcast' Celiac News Round Up on 'A Canadian Celiac Podcast'

GLUTEN FREE WEIGH IN

Aaron Diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis Aaron has Corrective Surgery & his Celiac Disease Report Card

GLUTEN FREE RECIPES

• Real Foods Corn Thins Recipe Ideas

Sue's Websites and Social Media –

Podcast https://acanadianceliacpodcast.libsyn.com

Podcast Blog – https://www.acanadianceliacblog.com

Email – [email protected]

Celiac Kid Stuff – https://www.celiackidstuff.com

Baking Website – https://www.suesglutenfreebaking.com

Instagram - @suesgfbaking

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVGfpD4eJwwSc_YjkGagza06yYe3ApzL

Email – [email protected]

Other Podcast – Gluten Free Weigh In – https://glutenfreeweighin.libsyn.com