Carolina Hurricanes: 2009/2010 Gluten Free Update

I have previously written about Gluten Free options at the RBC Center during Carolina Hurricanes games last season. I was able to work with the food and beverage department last year to get RedBridge GF beer carried and they ended up selling 106 during the 42 game regular season. In addition, there were a few GF food options sprinkled throughout the arena.

A few weeks ago, I checked in with the food & beverage department again to see if we could make any improvements over the GF options from last year. One big complaint I heard often was the people knew there was RedBridge, they just didn't know where it was located. You actually had to contact a ticket representative to request a special pass to access the club level of the arena in order to find RedBridge at a single bar called The Ledge Lodge.

I'm happy to report a huge improvement in the Gluten Free options for the upcoming 2009-2010 season. The Food & Beverage Department at the RBC Center has done a great job accommodating those on a Gluten Free Diet. Not surprising from an organization that sends it superstars out to personally deliver season tickets to fans. I'd like to send a huge thanks to Chris Diamond and all the folks responsible for these GF options.

2009-2010 Carolina Hurricanes Gluten Free options @ RBC Center

1) RedBridge beer will now be carried at the following locations. It will be carried on all 3 levels of the arena and no special access passes are needed.

• Upper Deck - Section 312 - Pub 300
• Club Level (2nd Deck) - All private Suites, Arena Club Restaurant, Ledge Lodge bar and Champions Club
• Lower Level - Bud Light Deck

2) The following Gluten Free food options are available.

• Call in advance (at least 4pm on game days) 919-861-5479 and request a GF meal from Executive Chef Flood. This special menu option includes a plate of grilled chicken, steamed broccoli and carrots and will run in the $15 range. You can coordinate the details on picking up the GF dinner when you call.
• Carvery Cart Meat Option with Salad - Sections 104 & 124
• Philly Steak Cart, order without bun - Sections 123 & 324
• Sausage Stop Cart, order without bun - Sections 105, 120 & 306
• Many concession stands throughout the arena serve candy options like Skittles, M&Ms and Snickers as well as popcorn - all Gluten Free.
• New soft serve ice cream (replaces Goodberries) called Twisted Waffle Ice Cream is Gluten Free, Lactose Free and Cholesterol Free (no cone) - Section 116

In addition to all these awesome changes, each concession stand will now have a Food Allergy Ingredient Listing document which details the ingredients of each concession item. If something is in question, please ask the concession worker for this document and you can review all the ingredients yourself to be 100% sure. The listing should include ingredient warnings for the following; wheat & gluten, milk, eggs, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts and tree nuts as well as MSG. I've shown an example below - the red letters will indicate the allergen.

Butter - Partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, soybean lecithin, natural and artificial butter flavor, TBHQ, and Citric acid, vitamin A, and palmitate. Colored with beta cartone. S

Cheddar Cheese - Maltodextrin (corn), whey powder, cheddar cheese, salt, sugar, sodium, phosphate, lactic acid, yellow #5 (E102), citric acid, yellow #6 (E110), partially hydrogentrated soybean oil, silicon dioxide, FD&C Yellow #6 (E110), disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate. M S

FYI - the puck drops on the new season this coming Friday (10/2/09). The Hurricanes will be in action against the Philadelphia Flyers - get your tickets here. Also, be sure to check out the new "Megatron" this year featuring 4 huge HD video boards!