As tricky as living with Celiac Disease is, there is technology that can help relieve some of the stress involved in knowing what to eat.

These 4 apps have really helped me find gluten free food near me. The amazing thing is that most of these apps have a Celiac community built into them. Some of these apps let you read reviews left by fellow celiac’s about their experience.

Here are 4 gluten free apps that are free to download and use and will help tremendously in keeping to a gluten free lifestyle.

1. Gluten Free Scanner

Did you just get diagnosed with Celiac Disease? Then you need to download this app right away. Or maybe you have a relative or friend who has celiac disease, well, this is a great app for you too.

When you are shopping for ingredients in the grocery store and aren't sure if something is gluten free because it's not clearly labeled, this app can help give you the answer in seconds.

With the app open on your phone, simply hold the barcode of the food product up to your phone’s camera. The app uses the camera on your phone to read the barcode of that product which then pulls it up from its database and tells you if the product of the barcode scanned:

• is gluten free

• has no gluten-containing ingredients

• may contain wheat

• or contains gluten

In addition, the app also gives you a warning if there is no information from the manufacturer about cross-contamination. It can also inform you whether or not the food has been processed on equipment shared with gluten.

The Gluten Free Scanner app also allows you to search through the database by a products name. Enter the name of the brand or product name in the search bar and the app will pull up results that match your search. You can scroll through these results to find your match view the same results as you would if you were to have scanned the barcode.

Let's say your family is having a BBQ but they are unsure if the BBQ sauce they are going to use to marinate the meat is safe. If they text you asking if a product is gluten free, you can search for the product name specifically in the app without needing the barcode in front of you.

You can also view the history of your scans, so you can easily pull up past scans results.

Overall, this is a really helpful and handy app to have, and it is free to download!

Download the Gluten Free Scanner App Here

2. Find Me Gluten Free

The Find Me Gluten Free app is one of my go to resources when trying to find a gluten free restaurant near me.

Have your tried searching "gluten free near me" on google? If you have, then you know that it is not very convenient. This app helps you discover smaller restaurants in your area that are allergy friendly.

The Find Me Gluten Free App allows you to find gluten free restaurants near you by searching the zip code, city, browsing through dedicated gluten free facilities near you, or by category.

This app also allows users to rate the restaurant and to leave comments about the friendliness of the service and their dining experience. When leaving a comment on the app, users can indicate whether or they have Celiac Disease. This is great because you can see what other Celiac’s are saying about the restaurant and if they had a safe dining experience.

Two things that I have noticed about the app is that they do not list the gluten free options so you still may need to do a little research to learn what gluten free options the restaurants has. The second thing is that as the database has grown, there is a lot of listing that has gluten-friendly menus as opposed to celiac-friendly menu’s, so keep that in mind when you use the app!

The Find Me Gluten Free App is free to download and use, however, they do have a Premier membership as well that lets you search more options such as “Most Celiac Friendly” and “Open Now”. There is also a web-based version that can be found at www.findmyglutenfree.com.

Download the Find Me Gluten Free App Here

3. Dedicated Gluten Free

Dedicated Gluten Free is free to download and use, but it does require an email and password to sign up for an account.

Similar to the Find Me Gluten Free App, Dedicated Gluten Free allows you to search and find gluten free restaurants near you.

There are search filters that allow you to search by name, distance from you, and the type of restaurant.

Once you find a restaurant you like, you can view their location through maps, have access to the restaurants phone number, website, email and social media links. You can also heart your favorite restaurants on the app and view them later.

Download the Dedicated Gluten Free App Here

4. Nima

Nima’s app works best if you have the Nima Sensor Gluten Device, which allows you to test a sample of your food with a hand-held device that tells you in minutes if that sample was gluten free or if it contains trace amounts of gluten. However, you can still take advantage of Nima Sensor’s app even if you don’t own the device.

The advantage of having the Nima Sensor is that you can pair your phone with the device by using Bluetooth and it will keep track of all your gluten sensor test readings. The awesome thing about this app is that it also lets you view the results of what other people have tested using their Nima Gluten Sensor and by leaving a comment on what they had ordered.

Other users results are shown in the app, which may help you determine if you are at risk of being cross-contaminated if you eat at that same restaurant that they tested their food at.

The app lets you search by your current location or look up a city that you may want to travel too. It displays a map that indicates a restaurant with either a:

• A green Nima triangle – indicates from the test came back safe and did not contain gluten at that location.

• An orange Nima triangle – indicates the majority of the test came back with gluten at that location.

• A grey Nima triangle – indicates no test have been taken with the Nima Sensor at that location.

Download the Nima App Here

*Gluten Free Socialite is not affiliated with any of these apps. For the full privacy polices and terms of use, please refer to each apps disclosures.