The Celiac Disease Foundation will be hosting their Annual Education Conference & Food Faire in Los Angeles, Saturday May 15, 2010. This year’s conference will host some of the countries world leading experts on celiac disease and gluten-free living including Peter Green, Sheila Crowe and Shelley Case. There will also be a question and answer forum; sessions focused on children and teens with celiac; and book signings.

The early registration discount is extended until April 30th. The conference and will be held at the Los Angeles Downtown Marriott and parking is included with registration.

The conference is going to kick off their 20th annual celebration with a pancake breakfast debuting General Mills new gluten-free Bisquick pancakes with syrup. Registrants will be the first to be able to taste the new baking mix which will be introduced to the public later this summer.

In addition to this highly anticipated product introduction is the debut of gluten-free Hamburger Helper, which will also be available this summer in 3 flavors: Chicken Fried Rice, Cheesy Hashbrowns and Beef Fried Rice.

Since 1931 Bisquick has been a staple in the kitchens of many Americans, and finally the gluten-free community will be able to enjoy it again. I know for me personally there are many quick and easy casseroles I would make that would call for Bisquick and have just put those recipes aside since I knew I was unable to use it. I am really looking forward to the ease of using Bisquick again for many recipes, especially recipes that are easy for children to create.

General Mills continues to impress us with its commitment to serving the gluten-free community. It is wonderful to see larger mainstream companies being able to make products that meet our needs and are widely available at mainstream grocery stores. It is encouraging to see what General Mills is doing, and leaves me with hope that many other larger companies will follow suit. Once being gluten-free meant having to travel far to speciality stores, mail order and pay double or more on products that were cheap to the rest of the population, and this is finally starting to change with increased awareness.

In December, Tiffany Janes wrote an article about the new website by General Mills which keeps us up-to-date on all of their gluten-free products. This is definitely a good resource to keep bookmarked on our computers and phones.

I look forward to try the new products this summer.