The Girl Scouts just introduced a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie. Vodka makers are touting their gluten-free versions. And manufacturers of naturally gluten-free products like potato chips, ice cream and nuts are making sure to advertise the fact.

What’s going on?

Consumers, it seems, have woken up to the healthful benefits of living without wheat, barley and rye, three primary sources of gluten, and are flocking to food that doesn’t contain them. The number of people buying gluten-free products more than tripled in the past three years. The gluten-free industry itself is supposed to grow by half in the next two years.

While just 1.8 million people suffer from celiac disease, an immune disorder that causes the body to attack the small intestine when gluten is consumed, 10 times that many folks are sensitive or allergic to gluten.

The trend toward gluten-free products has caused a boom in health foods like organic yogurt. It has also caused major food-producing companies such as General Mills to come out with gluten-free versions of their most popular products – yellow cake, biscuit mixes and the like.

So for all of us with celiac disease or gluten sensitivities, we now have more packaged items that won’t make us sick. And for those who just want to eat healthier, you have more to choices on the grocery store aisle.