OnTrackCeliac

OnTrackCeliac closed in 2021 after a decade serving the gluten-free community.

I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in middle school, requiring me to adopt a strict gluten-free diet to protect my health. I had no idea what to expect.

At the time, gluten-free food was difficult to find. To make matters worse, very few restaurants understood the severity of Celiac, and they were not equipped to avoid cross-contamination in their kitchens. People with Celiac must avoid even trace amounts of gluten (i.e. it’s not sufficient to “leave the croutons off the salad” if the mixing bowl is already contaminated).

So I started OnTrackCeliac. The site was a hub for gluten-free information, listing out safe food products, restaurants, and other resources that might be helpful to folks in the Celiac community. I worked on the site throughout my teenage years and added as much as I could. Certain pages were more useful than others — I remember a page about the gluten content in 7-Eleven Slurpees was viewed millions of times, while other pages were hardly visited. It was a fascinating glimpse into the information gaps on the internet.

Once I reached college, the world had changed. It became very clear that a crowdsourced site (like www.findmeglutenfree.com) could have a much larger impact because of its scale. While I was originally worried about the trustworthiness of these sites, I saw meaningful quality control efforts being implemented. I also focused my efforts on teaching other Celiacs how to assess restaurants based on reviews. I eventually made the decision to shut down OnTrackCeliac. I’m so proud of the legacy it leaves behind and the community it fostered.