Pizza Hut AND Coors? Has Gluten Free EVER been so Mainstream?

Photo courtesy: Pizza Hut’s Facebook page

Is mainstream a word you would ever have used when it comes to gluten free living?

On Tuesday, two juggernauts in their respective fields both announced a new gluten-free product.

Let’s get started….

Pizza Hut’s gluten free pizza

The national pizza chain, which a few months ago made some menu changes to ramp up sales, just announced in a news release that about one third of its restaurants will start serving the gluten-free pie.  It is the first national pizza chain to be certified by the Gluten Intolerance Group.

Here’s how they are making it work.  They are using Udi’s gluten-free pizza crust.  They have set aside sauce, cheese and pepperoni in a gluten-free “kit” at the restaurant.  Employees will put on gloves to prepare the pizza, then bake it on parchment paper.  A designated cutter will also be used and then it will be served in an Udi’s branded box.

California Pizza Kitchen is the only other chain that has gone to extremes to satisfy the celiac crowd (after a botched attempt in 2011), but CPK  isn’t nearly as big with 260 restaurants compared to Pizza Hut’s 6,000.

I am excited to see how this works.  Emma would like a thicker crust than Udi’s so I am not sure she’ll LOVE it, but given the fact that my suburban area pizza shops don’t get gluten-free at all, this would be very convenient.

The USA Today article on Tuesday mentioned Pizza Hut CEO David Gibbs hoped by having this option would help eliminate the “veto vote” for consumers who need gluten free options. The gluten free pizza begins serving January 26th.

Coors gluten free beer

Just as pizza was making headlines, so did beer!  MillerCoors announced a new beer called Coors Peak Copper Lager.  A gluten-free beer made from brown rice, peas and malted brown rice, according to AdAge.

The downside is that because of production limitations it will only be available in Seattle and Portland for now, the article says.

The MillerCoors website is a little behind on the announcement.  I didn’t find a photo, or any information about the new beer on there– other than their Twitter feed which is displayed on their blog page.

So if you are lucky enough to live in Seattle or Portland and have a participating Pizza Hut, you could have a pizza and a Coors from these two big companies in just a month or so!

Tags: beer, celiac, certified, Coors, disease, free, GIG, gluten, gluten-free, group, intolerance, MillerCoors, peak, pizza, Pizza Hut, Udi's