Find out what menu items from MOD Pizza do not contain gluten and what you need to know about their gluten-free crusts.
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If you have a MOD Pizza near you, you may have wondered if this restaurant has any safe options for you and your gluten-free diet.
MOD Pizza offers a few gluten-friendly crust options for their pizzas, but in this post we’re going to dig into what that really means for folks like you and I who actually avoid gluten in our diets.
It’s nice to *say* an ingredient is gluten-free, but is it safe enough for people with celiac disease? What about gluten intolerance?
We’re going to dig into the gluten-free menu items from MOD Pizza and talk about what options there are for folks who are looking for a quick place to pick up pizza or order delivery on a gluten-free diet.
We’ll cover the allergen statement by MOD Pizza, plus go into some of the details of things you may not have thought about when it comes to gluten cross contamination in various restaurants.
If you’re a MOD Pizza fan, you won’t want to miss this post!
What is gluten?
Gluten is a protein found in most wheat products, and acts as the “glue” that helps to hold wheat, barley, kamut, spelt, farro, durum, bulgur, rye, and semolina together to maintain their shape.
Gluten is naturally occurring, and therefore is impossible to strip away from the grain. If a grain naturally has gluten in it, there’s no way to make that food gluten-free.
Where can you find gluten in food?
Gluten can be found in the form of wheat and grain products, like bread or flour in the more obvious places.
You can also find gluten as a binding ingredient, an ingredient added for texture like to make a food more crispy, or as a thickening agent.
Where can you find gluten in restaurants?
Depending on the restaurant you’re visiting, you may find gluten in a variety of places.
At fast food restaurants, there will be gluten in hamburger buns, the breading of crispy chicken sandwiches or chicken nuggets, some French fries, salad dressings, croutons on salad, and chili or soup options.
At other restaurants, you’ll find gluten in flour in sauces, in pizza or other pastry dough, pasta, and as a thickener in some soups.
Where gluten is found in the menu items will vary from restaurant to restaurant. That’s why it’s always a good idea to review menus from home, and see if you can find any allergen information before you get to the restaurant itself.
Being able to review nutritional information and allergen statements before visiting a fast food restaurant can be the difference between ordering something that you think is safe for your gluten-free diet and getting sick.
Being knowledgeable about what specific menu items you’ll be able to eat without any worries of later reactions is crucial to sticking with your gluten-free diet.
MOD Pizza allergen statement
According to the MOD Pizza website, this is their current allergen statement:
“Since we prepare our food on one serving line, we cannot guarantee that any of our menu items are free of allergens or gluten, and none of our crust options are recommended for those with a gluten sensitivity.”
In addition to this allergen statement, on the FAQ page of the MOD website, they have this question and answer:
“Do you have gluten-friendly options?
We offer a gluten-friendly and cauliflower crust option. Since we prepare our food on one serving line, we cannot guarantee that any of our menu items are free of allergens or gluten, and none of our crust options are recommended for those with a gluten sensitivity.”
What you need to know about the gluten-free crust at MOD Pizza
MOD Pizza is very clear on their website that even though two of their crust options do not contain gluten ingredients, that they still will come into contact with gluten in the prep areas.
Keep this in mind as we keep talking about the options at MOD Pizza farther down the post.
Two of their pizza crust options do not contain gluten ingredients: gluten-friendly and cauliflower crust.
These are the ingredients in their gluten-friendly crust:
“water, rice flour, modified rice starch, potato starch, sugar, tapioca starch, potato flour, canola/olive oil blend, yeast, salt, xanthan gum, culture brown rice.”
Included in their cauliflower crust are the following ingredients:
“cauliflower, low moisture mozzarella cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), rice flour, tapioca starch, water, egg whites, rice starch, modified food starch, sugar, yeast, salt, cultured brown rice, garlic powder, italian seasoning, xanthan gum.”
Even though both of these contain no gluten ingredients, there’s no guarantee that these are safe for folks who are sensitive to gluten. There is a high probability of cross contamination in the kitchen while preparing these pizzas due to other gluten-containing ingredients within the proximity.
What to know about cross contamination at restaurants
Most fast food and carryout restaurants are not considered gluten-free establishments so it’s useful to keep this in mind when making decisions about where to go and what to order.
It’s important to know that even if a fast food restaurant claims that their menu items do not contain gluten, that the possibility and probability of gluten in their products is going to be high if there is even one menu item with gluten available.
Depending on your level of sensitivity to gluten, this can be make or break information for you.
If you are Celiac and are allergic to trace amounts of gluten, you’ll likely want to avoid most fast food restaurants that offer any bread products or French fries that are cooked in a shared fryer with other gluten-containing ingredients.
If you are not sensitive to gluten at the trace level and have adverse reactions to gluten due to a food intolerance, you may decide that these trace amounts of gluten from cross contamination are worth risking for a quick, easy, and convenient food option.
Being aware of how you have reacted to gluten in your diet in the past and how much gluten it takes for your body to react is useful knowledge when it comes to situations like these.
Use your best judgment about what you know about your body, how you react to gluten, and what the risks are for you specifically.
MOD Pizza Gluten-free Menu Items
Using the Allergen Information on the MOD Pizza website, these are the ingredients that MOD Pizza says do not contain gluten ingredients (before making their way onto your pizza).
Each of these options listed below has a full list of ingredients on the Allergen Information, if you need further clarification if an ingredient will work for you.
They also have other allergens listed, like milk, eggs, crustacean shellfish, fish, soybean, peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame.
Keep in mind that there is flour used in their prep areas and MOD is very forthright that cross contamination can occur in their kitchens – even with these ingredients listed below.
Crust
- Gluten-friendly
- Cauliflower Crust
Sauce
- BBQ Sauce
- Garlic Rub
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Pesto
- Red Sauce
- Spicy Calabrian Chili Red Sauce
- White Sauce
Cheese
- Asiago
- Cheddar
- Dairy-free Cheese
- Feta
- Gorgonzola
- Mozzarella
- Parmesan
- Ricotta
Meat
- Anchovies
- Bacon
- Canadian Bacon
- Egg – Scrambled
- Grilled Chicken
- Ground Beef
- Mild Sausage
- Pepperoni
- Salami
- Spicy Chicken Sausage
- Plant-based Italian Sausage
Veggies & Good Stuff
- Artichokes
- Arugula
- Banana Peppers
- Basil – Fresh Chopped
- Black Olives
- Broccoli – Roasted
- Cilantro
- Corn – Roasted
- Chickpeas
- Cucumbers
- Garlic – Roasted
- Greek Olives
- Green Bell Peppers
- Jalapeños
- Mama Lil’s Sweet Hot Peppas
- Mushrooms
- Oregano
- Pineapple
- Red Onion
- Red Peppers – Roasted
- Romaine
- Rosemary – Fresh Chopped
- Sea Salt
- Sea Salt & Pepper
- Serrano Peppers
- Spinach
- Mixed Greens
- Tomatoes – Sliced
- Tomatoes – Diced
- Cranberry Seed Blend
- Red Onions – Pickled
Finishing Sauce
- Balsamic Fig Glaze
- BBQ Swirl
- Hot Buffalo Sauce
- Mike’s Hot Honey
- Pesto Drizzle
- Red Sauce Dollops
- Sri-Rancha Sauce
Salad Dressing
- Balsamic
- Blue Cheese
- Caesar
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Italian
- Lemon Vinaigrette
- Ranch
- Red Wine Vinegar
- Greek Herb & Tahini
- Sherry Dijon
- Zesty Roma
More Stuff
- Cinnamon Topping
- Cinnamon Icing
- Rosemary Garlic Topping
- Dipping Sauce – Caramel
- Original Wings
- BBQ Hot Honey Wings
- Buffalo Wings
- Sri-Rancha Wings
- Parmesan Garlic Rosemary Wings
Beverage
- Caramelized Pear Ice Tea
- Vintage Lemonade
- Marionberry Lemonade
- Black Tea
Desserts
None of the Dessert options from MOD Pizza are considered safe for a gluten-free diet.
It’s important to note that while MOD Pizza has gluten-free pizza crusts, there is always the possibility of cross contamination in the kitchen and they’re direct in sharing that information on their website.
If you are celiac, you’ll want to avoid MOD Pizza. If you have a gluten intolerance, you may decide to give it a try, but knowing your level of gluten sensitivity up front is helpful.
Be cautious and curious about it, but don’t be surprised by having a reaction if you decide to brave it.
If you’ve been wondering whether or not you can find gluten-free menu items at MOD Pizza lately, I hope this information has been helpful for you.
Looking for more information on gluten-free restaurants?
Be sure to check out my Gluten-free Restaurants post or get all the information in one place with my Gluten-free Restaurant Guide!
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More Gluten-free Restaurant Menu Items
If you’re looking at other popular restaurants and wondering what gluten-free menu items they offer, be sure to check out my Gluten-free Restaurant Guide. I’ve outlined all the gluten-free options from 45+ popular restaurants and fast food chains.
- Gluten-free Fast Food: Options from Major Chains
- Gluten and Dairy-free Diet: 4 Restaurant Tips
- Applebee’s Gluten-free Menu Items
- Arby’s Gluten-free Menu Items
- Blaze Pizza Gluten-free Menu Items
- Boston Market Gluten-free Menu Items
- Buffalo Wild Wings Gluten-free Menu Items
- Burger King Gluten-free Menu Items
- California Pizza Kitchen Gluten-free Menu Items
- Cheesecake Factory Gluten-free Menu Items
- Chick-Fil-A Gluten-free Menu Items
- Chilis Gluten-free Menu Items
- Chipotle Gluten-free Menu Items
- Cracker Barrel Gluten-free Menu Items
- Crumbl Cookies Gluten-free Menu Items
- Culver’s Gluten-free Menu Items
- Denny’s Gluten-free Menu Items
- Domino’s Gluten-free Menu Items
- Dunkin Donuts Gluten-free Menu Items
- Einstein Bros Bagels Gluten-free Menu Items
- Firehouse Subs Gluten-free Menu Items
- First Watch Gluten-free Menu Items
- Five Guys Gluten-free Menu Items
- IHOP Gluten-free Menu Items
- Jack In The Box Gluten-free Menu Items
- Jimmy John’s Gluten-free Menu Items
- KFC Gluten-free Menu Items
- Little Caesar’s Gluten-free Menu Items
- Longhorn Steakhouse Gluten-free Menu Items
- McDonald’s Gluten-free Menu Items
- MOD Pizza Gluten-free Menu Items
- Nothing Bundt Cakes Gluten-free Menu Items
- Olive Garden Gluten-free Menu Items
- Outback Steakhouse Gluten-free Menu Items
- Panda Express Gluten-free Menu Items
- Panera Gluten-free Menu Items
- Papa Johns Gluten-free Menu Items
- Papa Murphy’s Gluten-free Menu Items
- P.F. Chang’s Gluten-free Menu Items
- Pizza Hut Gluten-free Menu Items
- Qdoba Gluten-free Menu Items
- Red Lobster Gluten-free Menu Items
- Red Robin Gluten-free Menu Items
- Ruby Tuesday Gluten-free Menu Items
- Shake Shack Gluten-free Menu Items
- Smashburger Gluten-free Menu Items
- Sonic Gluten-free Menu Items
- Starbucks Gluten-free Menu Items
- Subway Gluten-free Menu Items
- Taco Bell Gluten-free Menu Items
- Texas Roadhouse Gluten-free Menu Items
- Wendy’s Gluten-free Menu Items
- Whataburger Gluten-free Menu Items
- Wingstop Gluten-free Menu Items
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