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Gluten Free Pizza Cross Contamination

invisibledemon

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invisibledemon Newbie
invisibledemon
Posted

Hello, new here and to the gluten free world.

My fiance has celiac and we are still learning a lot about the condition.

my main concern is the cross contamination, and the fact that not many restaurants in our area even know about gluten free items, even the ones with gluten free menus.

we were going to try the gluten free pizza at Garlic Jims yesterday, but we are worried about cross contamination, shes pretty sensitive to gluten.

we asked the guy at the counter about the pizza, and from the beginning he was completely rude and even more unhelpful. even said that cross contamination isnt a concern because "the ovens are so hot that it will kill all the germs"

really? just really?

i know that the crust is gluten free, but cooking the pizzas in the same ovens as regular pizza is my concern. having worked at a pizza place i know that those ovens blow around a lot of air and and the flour off of a normal pizza could blow on to the gluten free ones.

i have tried searching, but it yeilds no answers.

only thing i have found is about bakerys that serve gluten free bread, and the general consensus has been that its a risky thing to get. so woudnt pizza be about the same?

any help would be extremely helpful.

thanks.

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Darissa Contributor
Darissa
Posted

Eating out gluten free, no matter where it is, there is always concern for cross contamination (CC). We have found 2 pizza resturants in the Phoenix area (Spinatos, Picazzos) that have gluten free crust. Both of these resturants have sepearte screens they bake the gluten-free crust on. Both of the resturants also do not prepare the pizza on the regular pizza line and they do not use the regular toppings off of the pizza prep line due to CC. We normally due good at both of these resturants, but every once in a while we do get CC. My daughter is very sensitive to CC. But both of these resturants are very good when asking about gluten-free and CC and both are very willing to help. We always ask to talk to a Manager if possible. I would be worried about a place that is rude when talking to them about CC and gluten-free.

We eat at PFChangs regularly and have never gotten sick due to CC. They do a great job of preventing CC and have a very large gluten-free menu. If you have one in the area, its worth checking out. Also OUtback does a pretty good job, depending on the location. I have had lots of good experiences and a few not so good at different locations. We eat at ChickFilA also. THey fries are gluten-free and not fried with any food contianing gluten. Also their grilled chicken breast are gluten-free, and their ice cream! THey have always been very helpful in preparing fresh frieds/chicken and wearing gloves to help prevent CC. As a company, they seem to educate the staff, at least the managers.

Good luck!

We use UDI's frozen pizza crust and LOVE them! We buy them at our local Whole FOods. You might also be able to get them online. I don't know where you live, but here in Phoenix we have a bakery, Gluten Free Creations, that only bakes gluten free products that have a great pizza crust. I have also used Gluten Free Pantrys box mix of their french bread/pizza crust and it is pretty good.

HOpe you are able to find some places to eat out! Good luck!

ciavyn Contributor
ciavyn
Posted

Hm...I eat a gluten free pizza here at a local pizza joint, and they bake them in the same ovens. They are made on separate aluminum liners, and they keep a special cutter just for gluten free, but other than that...that's about the only concession. I haven't had any issues, and according to them, they have a number of celiacs that eat there. So I don't know...maybe it depends on how sensitive you are? I don't think I am super sensitive, and I've done fine when I've eaten out.

invisibledemon Newbie
invisibledemon
Posted
  • Author

Darissa,

thanks for the information. we have a pf changs really close by so we will def check them out.

if the guy had been more helpful and actually educated in the matter it probably would have been as bad, but the way he handled it let me know that he had no clue what was going on.

i mean seriously, kills the germs? that just lets me know that he has no clue and will probably cc it by not knowing what he has to avoid. i plan on going to talk to the GM tomorrow to let her know that she should be more wary of her employees on the matter.

we knew about chick-fil-a, its just sad because she loves their chicken nuggets, it used to be her special treat every once in a while. lol

there is one restuarant her in nashville that is an italian place, i cant remember the name, will have to ask her later, but they were real educated in the gluten free things. when she ordered off that menu the chef came out and talked to her and just gave extraordinary service and showed that he was knowledgeable.

but, other than that place, no where has been very helpful.

Ciavyn,

she seems to be pretty sensitive so far, like i said, we are pretty new to this, just recently diagnosed, which was another issue, you would be surprised at how many dr.s have no clue what celiac is. one Dr. thought my fiance was saying she may be allergic glue.

Maggie Mermaid Apprentice
Maggie Mermaid
Posted

we were going to try the gluten free pizza at Garlic Jims yesterday, but we are worried about cross contamination, shes pretty sensitive to gluten.

we asked the guy at the counter about the pizza, and from the beginning he was completely rude and even more unhelpful. even said that cross contamination isnt a concern because "the ovens are so hot that it will kill all the germs"

really? just really?

i know that the crust is gluten free, but cooking the pizzas in the same ovens as regular pizza is my concern. having worked at a pizza place i know that those ovens blow around a lot of air and and the flour off of a normal pizza could blow on to the gluten free ones.

Next time, ask for a manager. The manager at the Redondo Beach, Calif. location was very knowledgeable, friendly, and polite. He shared that they use rice flour when tossing their regular pizzas so there's not chance of air-borne cross-contamination. He also said they have a dedicated gluten-free area in their oven as well as dedicated gluten-free pans & utensils.

We've eaten at couple different locations about a dozen times & my uber-sensitive husband did not react.

invisibledemon Newbie
invisibledemon
Posted
  • Author

thats the problem, i believe he was the manager on duty, probably just a shift runner, it was only him and another teenage girl inside.

he explained nothing and only offered a smart remark to questions i had asked. needless to say, i was fuming when we walked out. which is what led me to this site to try and figure out whether or not its safe.

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