News: California Pizza Kitchen Now Offers Gluten-Free Pizzas for People with Celiac Disease

California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) now offers new gluten-free pizzas that the chain claims is safe to be eaten by people who have celiac disease and have been approved by the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG).

The new gluten-free pizzas are only available with four varieties: the Original BBQ Chicken Pizza, Pepperoni, Mushroom Pepperoni Sausage ("MuPeSa"), and Margherita.

According to NRN, the chain has removed all wheat flour from the pizza prep station (that's all the flour they throw around while tossing pizzas) and replaced it with rice flour. Gluten-free toppings containers and anything that touches the gluten-free pizzas (gloves, cutting boards, etc.) are blue to set them apart from the other equipment. Additionally, gluten-free pizzas are baked in an aluminum pan with a rim to protect them from bumping against their wheat flour counterparts.

The chain offers gluten-free crust for a $2.00 upcharge but only the four new gluten-free pizzas are made using GIG's certified procedures.

CPK had previously offered a gluten-free crust but it wasn't suitable for people with celiac disease and was instead for people who just wanted to cut wheat out of their diet. The four new pizzas are an effort to remedy that.