This week I've been reading The Essential Gluten-Free Restaurant Guide, 3rd Edition, published by Triumph Dining. I’ve written a review of it, and I can tell you here that I was impressed with it.

Speaking of restaurants, AllergyFree Passport has recently published the results of a global market research survey of nearly 2,000 gluten-free consumers, more than 500 allergen-free consumers, and nearly 200 representatives of the hospitality industry in 35 countries.

According to the online executive summary of the report:

• Ninety percent of gluten-free and allergen-free consumers ranked taste as their first priority, before nutrition, convenience, and cost
• When gluten-free and allergen-free consumers are happy with their eating experience, they’ll go back to the same establishment more than 80% of the time
• Eighty percent of gluten-free and allergen-free respondents are eating out less often now than they were a year ago. They're also traveling less than a year ago, for reasons that include concerns about eating in restaurants and the availability of special meals or snacks.
• There’s a wide gap between consumers’ opinions of how well the hospitality industry comprehends gluten-free and allergen-free diets, and the hospitality industry’s opinion of how well it understands these diets.

Encouragingly, most of the industry respondents to the survey consider those of us on gluten-free or allergen-free diets to be "a new and profitable consumer segment."