In 1994 I was diagnosed with celiac disease, which led me to create Celiac.com in 1995. I created this site for a single purpose: To help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed and living happy, healthy gluten-free lives. Celiac.com was the first site on the Internet dedicated solely to celiac disease, and since then it has become an invaluable resource to people worldwide who seek information about celiac disease and the gluten-free diet. In 1998 I created The Gluten-Free Mall, Your Special Diet Superstore! which was also another Internet first—it was the first gluten-free food site to offer a shopping cart-style interface, and the ability for people to order gluten-free products manufactured by many different companies at a single Web site.
The Sprue-Nik Press, published by the Tri-County Celiac Sprue Support Group, a chapter of CSA/USA, Inc. serving southeastern Michigan, Volume 7, Number 5, July/August 1998. Dr. Peter Ernst is Senior Scientist at the Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical Branch. He is the son of Canadian Celiac Association (CCA) co-founder Kay Ernst, and is a celiac himself.
During Dr. Ernst’s talk, he indicated his philosophy toward celiac disease which is, "Don’t exclude anything if it is unnecessary." As a result he made three assertions which may provoke no major objection from Canadian celiacs but are controversial among US celiacs. Dr. Ernst’s first assertion is that it is almost impossible for gliadins to be in distilled products. For instance, many people avoid distilled vinegar; Dr. Ernst believes this is almost certainly unnecessary. In his mind, there is no "celiac" problem regardless of anecdotal evidence to the contrary. [This is a view shared by the CCA and many experts, including USDA grain expert Donald Kasarda. However, many US celiac organizations, including our support group and CSA/USA, recommend against the use of distilled products unless the source is anon-gluten grain. Each celiac must make their own decision regarding the use of distilled products.—ed.]