Celiac Organizations
Links
Celiac Disease Foundation — 501(c)(3), founded 1990. The broadest of the three: research, education, advocacy, the iCureCeliac patient registry, and a Scientific Advisory Committee. Contact · 1-844-593-8169
Beyond Celiac — Founded 2003. The most research-forward, oriented toward treatments and a cure. 215-325-1306 · 844-856-6692
National Celiac Association — 501(c)(3). The most community-facing: support group network, webinars, restaurant directories, and direct guidance on alcohol. Contact · [email protected] · 1-888-4-CELIAC
Tier: Directory · Verified 4 August 2026
Why a brewer should know them
They set the information environment. A newly diagnosed celiac reads these sites in their first month, and whatever those sites say about beer becomes that person's default position for years. If you do not know what they say, you do not know what you are selling against — or with.
They are where the caution about gluten-removed beer comes from. The reason a large share of celiac drinkers will not touch an enzyme-treated barley beer is not squeamishness; it is that the organizations they trust have explained the testing cannot verify it — the same conclusion the TTB reached in writing. That caution is well-founded, and it is precisely the opening for a beer brewed from grain that never contained gluten. See The Trust Gap.
Worth noting: these organizations do cover alcohol. The National Celiac Association publishes guidance on alcohol and the gluten-free diet, and the Celiac Disease Foundation covered the TTB ruling on gluten-free labeling when it landed. This is not a subject they ignore.
Why a gluten-free drinker trusts them
They are patient organizations, not manufacturers. They fund or track research, they have scientific advisory input, and they are not selling anything the reader has to buy. That is credibility a brand cannot manufacture for itself — which is why the sensible move is to meet their standard rather than argue with it.
Our experience
Tier: Directory. We have no relationship with any of them. This is orientation: what each one is, and what a brewer would use it for.
The three, and how they differ
Celiac Disease Foundation
Founded 1990, based in Woodland Hills, California. Mission in their own words: to "accelerate diagnosis, treatments in search of a cure for celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity through research, education, and advocacy."
The broadest of the three. They run the iCureCeliac patient registry, fund clinical trials, push policy work including the Celiac Safety Act, operate a Food Insecurity Resource Network, and maintain a Scientific Advisory Committee.
Use them for: the research and policy picture, and a sense of where the science is going.
Beyond Celiac
Founded 2003 by Alice Bast, originally the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Based in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Their framing: "driving a cure for celiac disease through research, advocacy, and support."
The most research-forward, specifically oriented toward treatments. They fund research grants, host clinical research events, and in 2022 established a precompetitive coalition to move treatment research along faster.
Use them for: the patient-facing translation of celiac science, and understanding how engaged patients think about risk.
National Celiac Association
Based in Needham, Massachusetts, "dedicated to educating & advocating for individuals with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivities."
The most community-facing. An active support group network — virtual meetings plus local partner chapters — along with webinars, age-specific programming, recipe databases, restaurant directories, and food assistance programs. They also publish direct guidance on alcohol.
Use them for: the ground-level view of how people actually live with this, and what they ask each other. If you want to know what a real buying decision sounds like, this is the closest of the three.
How to approach them / what to ask
Be clear about what you are asking for, because the wrong ask gets a cool response and deserves one.
Reasonable: asking their current position on fermented beverages; asking what evidence they would want behind a gluten-free beer claim; asking whether they publish guidance you should be meeting; sponsoring an event with no editorial strings.
Not reasonable: asking for an endorsement, a product listing, or a logo. These organizations protect their credibility precisely by not lending it to products, and asking marks you as someone who has not understood what they are.
The genuinely useful question: "What would make your community comfortable with a beer?" The answer is a specification, and it is worth more than any marketing you could buy.
Related Reading
Verified as of 4 August 2026 — read all three organizations' public sites and quoted their own mission statements; founding dates and program descriptions are theirs. We have not contacted any of them and have not verified their current published positions on beer specifically — read their alcohol guidance directly before relying on it.
Gluten Free Brewer has no commercial relationship with the organizations on this page and receives nothing for listing them. If that ever changes, it will be disclosed here.