Carolina Hurricanes: 2010-2011 Gluten Free Update

I have previously written about Gluten Free options at the RBC Center during Carolina Hurricanes games over the last couple seasons.  See below for the 2010-2011 season update.

Durham Bulls - New Gluten Free Options

Just wanted to share some exciting news from the Durham Bulls.  They are very interested in offering Gluten Free options at the ballpark.  In fact, they have already started to offer a few items.  This past weekend, I enjoyed a few RedBridge at the game.





How to find the Gluten Free items

There is nothing on the Web site yet and not really any signs around the stadium, so I'll do my best to direct you to the GF cart.  On the main concourse on the third base side (enter the ballpark and take the stairs up to the main concourse then head left), there is a new healthy options cart (see picture) which is now offering the following Gluten Free items.

• RedBridge Gluten Free Beer
• Baked Goods from Moonlight Bakery; Peanut Butter Cookies, Reese Cake Cups & Brownie Bites

Please keep in mind that the entire cart is not Gluten Free.  There are other Gluten containing items on the cart (like wraps).  So far, they are using precautions like only selling packaged items to prevent cross contact.  For example, Moonlight Bakery's items are nicely packaged and are not opened or handled after delivery from Moonlight Bakery to the ballpark.

The Bulls would like to expand the offerings and are looking for input from Gluten Free consumers like you!  Please vote in the poll below and/or leave a comment with the food item you'd like to see them offer.  I will be passing along this information to the folks in charge (Thanks Tammy!) and if the items requested are reasonable and can be safely sold, they will do their best to expand.

FYI - the hot dogs sold at the ballpark are Sabrett which are Gluten Free.  They might be able to easily add Gluten Free hot dog buns.  Another idea is to bring in packaged food from Rosie's Plate.  I purposely do not have Gluten Free Pizza listed in the poll below because they are currently contracted to purchase pizza from a single vendor who is not producing GF pizza.

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Reformulated RedBridge Gluten Free Beer Now Available

I wrote a week ago about an omnious posting over at Celiac-Disease.com about the uncertain status of RedBridge Gluten Free beer.  Word was that it was being pulled from the market temporarily to be reformulated.

Well, the reformulation is complete and the new version should be hitting store shelves soon.  Not sure if they have changed the packaging or if you will recognize the new version by a different taste.  From what I've read, it should be lower alcohol content and thus available in all 50 states.

Here is the information from Triumph Dining & Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom.

FYI - RedBridge won the Bronze medal in the Gluten Free category at the 2010 World Beer Cup out of nine entries.  The gold medal winner is only available at a pub in VT and the silver is only available in Australia.

Carolina Hurricanes/RedBridge Update

Now that hockey season has officially ended for Caniacs, I decided to check in with the Food & Beverage folks over at the RBC Center to get an update for the number of RedBridge sold during the 2009-2010 Carolina Hurricanes season.  I also did this same thing last year - the number was 106.

Kinda shocking to me, but the number sold this year was only up slightly to 113.  This is shocking in the fact that the beer was only available to folks with a special pass to the club level last year while this year, the beer was more widely available (all 3 levels w/o special pass).  Economy maybe?  I do know that average attendance was down this year (15,240) from last (16,572).  Leave your theory in a comment if you have one.

Regardless, thanks so much to the RBC Center and Carolina Hurricanes organization (organ-iii-zation if you are Canadian) for being very Gluten Free friendly.  See ya next year (hopefully with playoffs)!  Wonder if we'll be drinking RedBridge next season?

Redbridge Update

Check out this post over @ Celiac-Disease.com for an update on Redbrige Gluten Free beer.  It's not a good update.  The following is an excerpt...

The representative I spoke to the last time confirmed that the beer is being taken out of circulation for the time being, due to it being reformulated. They stated that the beer now has too high an alcohol content to be sold in every state. The reformulated beer, so they said, would be around 4% alcohol and therefore can be sold in all 50 states. It is currently around 4.7% alcohol.

For now, Redbridge will no longer be available for local distributors to buy and resell it to consumers.

Mellow Mushroom's Gluten Free Pizza

As I wrote about late last week, Mellow Mushroom has finally rolled out their new Gluten Free pizzas.  I had the opportunity today to meet the folks behind the pizza, see how it is prepared and cooked and most importantly taste the new pie.  I'd like to start off with a big thanks to Triangle Mellow Mushroom owner Casey (Raleigh, Durham and Wake Forest locations) for inviting me in to see the process and taste the product.  Also, thanks to the two members of MM corporate (John and Eric) for providing all the pertinent information so that I could properly share this exciting news with you.  And to Fred Lybrand of Juno Nutrition for again having great connections.

There have been rumors about this day for many months and I'm happy to report that it is finally here.  I'm also happy to share that MM has really thought this through and have a huge desire to get this right for Celiacs or those who are Gluten Intolerant (or as the typo in the menu says "Celiac Intolerant" - I wish I actually was Celiac Intolerant but I digress).  They have really done their homework on the right way to roll out GF pizza.  You can enjoy these new GF pizzas right now at the 3 Triangle area locations during this test market launch.  Let's do our part to make sure this test is successful.

Here are the important points to remember...

1. Mellow Mushroom is using a frozen pizza crust product from Still Riding Pizza.  The crusts are made in a dedicated GF facility and shipped to each MM location frozen.
2. MM is bringing in nearly 50 GFCO certified Gluten Free toppings/ingredients for it's GF pizza.  All these ingredients are kept in a separate preparation area away from the main prep line for wheat pizzas.
3. MM has developed an extensive preparation procedure that will be used by "certified Gluten Free pizza makers" to deliver safe pizzas to those who cannot tolerate Gluten.  I saw this procedure in writing and will try to get a copy to share with you.
4. MM only uses corn meal in their restaurants when preparing wheat pizza, thus no atmospheric gluten.
5. MM keeps all GF toppings, supplies and crusts in a dedicated area.  All GF pizzas will be prepared in this dedicated location.  They use separate utensils as well.
6. MM will be using dedicated GF screens to cook the GF pizzas in a shared oven (wheat pizzas are placed directly on the oven stone itself) to avoid cross-contamination while baking.

Now onto the pizza.  I sampled a pepperoni and mushroom pizza while Fred tried a Hawaiian.  Both were excellent in taste and mouth feel.  The pizzas were the closest to wheat pizza that I've seen to date in the fact that the crust was not either cracker-like or crumbly.  A very NY-style thin crust pizza you could take and fold over to eat - yum!  The pizza is a 12" pizza and comes in larger than any of its competitors offering a full 8 slices.  MM also does not charge an extra fee for the GF crusts, they are the same price as their normal medium pizza.  With nearly 50 toppings to choose from, you can create basically any pizza you like and have it taste pretty darn close to the wheat version you might be used to from MM.

Product Testing Policy
As per the Gluten Free Raleigh "Paul Seelig" Product Testing Policy, I did perform an EZ-Gluten test on a sample of my pepperoni/mushroom pizza.  See the pictures for more information but I'm happy to report that the result was negative (actual test strip on the far left).

Mellow Mushroom is looking for your feedback on their new Gluten Free Pizzas and preparation/cooking procedure.  Please visit their Contact Us Web site to let them know your thoughts and be sure to give this new Gluten Free Pizza option a try.