Are all Gluten Free Menus created equal?

Increasingly restaurants are catering to the increased demand for gluten free items on their menus. To find restaurants with gluten free offerings in most areas you can simply enter the "zip code gluten free" example for Durham: 27705 gluten free. This yields a list of 381,000 listings related to gluten free in this zip code and several of them are restaurants with gluten free options. But are all gluten free menus created equal? Who provides the over site of gluten free food procurement, preparation and training of all restaurant staff?

Within the Celiac/Gluten Free Community there are two well-respected Gluten-Free Restaurant Training Programs that partner with Restaurants to provide training. They include:

Gluten-Free Awareness Restaurant Program http://www.glutenfreerestaurants.org/

GREAT Gluten Fee Kitchens Program http://www.celiaccentral.org/kitchens/

By accessing either of the above sites you can find listings of independent restaurants and chains that have taken the steps to provide proper training to the kitchen staff and adhere to some quality standards for gluten free menu items. In addition if you own a restaurant or work in the food service industry you may want to explore the resources available to you as you plan your gluten free menu offerings.