pizzeria precautions

Yesterday I asked LaRosa's about their cross contamination precautions.  I received two prompt responses:

First on the LaRosa's Pizzeria Facebook page:

Jessica - Sorry for the delay in getting back to you and that is a great question! We follow very strict cleaning and preparation procedures to keep our gluten intolerant Guests safe. For every GF pizza we prepare, we change gloves, use a separate clean set of utensils, clean the pizza making surface, and use sauce, cheese and toppings from supplies that have not been used on other pizzas. The crust comes on its own separate disk, so that it doesn't touch surfaces other pizzas touch. While we take every precaution, it’s still possible flour transfer could pose a problem for Guests with severe gluten intolerance. So, we let our guests know that so they can make an informed decision about eating with us.

Second, as a message from one of the administrators of the aforementioned Facebook page:

Hi Jessica- I work at LaRosa's and am one of the FB like page admins. We had more info about our GF certification process, but wasn't sure if it was too much. So, I'll let you judge: Our suppliers certified that our approved pizza ingredients (sauce, cheese, toppings, crust) are GF. As an additional precaution, we had all of our GF ingredients tested by an independent food lab to ensure our GF claim. Plus, we also had the lab test a fully prepared & baked GF pizza prepared in our kitchen to ensure no cross contact.

So, if you're wondering, that's why the gluten free option is only available in certain stores at the moment.  In their own words, "That’s why we’ve focused on 8 conveniently located pizzerias that we could “certify” in preparing and serving gluten free pizza. We hope that our Guests who choose gluten free won’t mind a little drive in the name of keeping people safe."

Happy eating!