Jersey Mike’s does gluten free right, and in this post, I’ll share with you how you can safely eat at Jersey Mike’s even if you’re on a strict gluten-free diet. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosures.
Jersey Mike’s gluten-free menu is plentiful and totally safe for those with celiac disease, an autoimmune disease treated by a strict gluten-free diet.
In fact, gluten-free customers can order just about any sub on Jersey Mike’s gluten-free menu without worry.
While Subway struggles to serve to the gluten-free community, Jersey Mike’s is doing it with flying colors.
In this article, I’ll discuss what’s gluten free – and not gluten free – on Jersey’s Mike’s menu, as well as reveal how Jersey Mike’s performed when I tested its gluten-free sub sandwich for hidden gluten with a portable gluten-detecting device known as the Nima Sensor.
Does Jersey Mike’s Have Gluten-Free Bread?
Yes, Jersey Mike’s has gluten-free bread that is safe for customers on medically-necessary gluten-free diets.
In December 2017, Jersey Mike’s announced it would be using pre-packaged gluten-free sub rolls by Udi’s at all of its 1,300 locations nationwide. The company says, “Udi’s gluten free sub rolls arrive at the restaurant individually wrapped and fully baked. The packaging is not opened until the sub is ordered and, as a result, there is little risk of cross contamination with other subs.”
The bread rolls ingredients are water, tapioca starch, brown rice flour (rice flour, rice bran), canola oil, egg whites, resistant corn starch, tapioca maltodextrin, cane sugar, sugar cane syrup, rice bran, yeast, sugarcane fiber, salt, gum (xanthan gum, sodium alginate, guar gum), cultured corn syrup solids, citric acid (mold inhibitor), locust bean gum, enzymes, and white rice flour.
Prior to its nationwide launch, Jersey Mike’s had begun testing the Udi’s gluten-free rolls in 111 Los Angeles and 19 West Palm Beach locations in December 2016.
The idea of offering gluten-free bread rolls came from a franchisee whose daughter had celiac disease. Given the severity of celiac disease and the difficulties of feeding someone a safe gluten-free meal without exposing them to even a crumb of gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and sometimes oats, is a challenge. The potential for gluten cross contamination in sandwich restaurants is a real threat to the health of someone with celiac disease.
That’s why Jersey Mike’s worked with the Gluten Intolerance Group to help train its team members on how to carefully prepare a sub sandwich for someone with celiac disease or a gluten intolerance.
Jersey Mike’s team members have been trained to change their gloves when handling the gluten-free bread rolls. They also know to use knives and other utensils that haven’t touched other bread products when slicing the gluten -free rolls, and they prepare each sub on parchment paper to avoid coming in contact with gluten crumbs.
What’s Gluten Free at Jersey Mike’s
With the addition of gluten-free bread, almost every hot and cold sub on the Jersey Mike’s menu can be made gluten free.
The only exceptions include the #15 Meatball and Cheese and the #18 Chicken Parm. Both of these subs contain gluten and should be avoided by those on a gluten-free diet.
Jersey Mike’s offers a database on its site where you plug your sandwich name into the database, and it’ll tell you the exact ingredients that sub contains. This enables you to assess your order for individual allergens.
How Jersey Mike’s Handles Gluten-Free Orders
Jersey Mike’s has put into place the following protocols to handle gluten-free “allergy” orders:
- Fully baked and wrapped Udi’s gluten-free sub rolls are delivered to the restaurants. The packaging is opened only once a customer orders a gluten-free sub.
- Jersey Mike’s team members change their gloves so they use only clean hands when handling the gluten-free ingredients.
- All gluten-free subs are prepared on a piece of parchment paper.
- Employees use clean knives and utensils when preparing and slicing the gluten-free rolls.
- For hot sandwiches, team members wipe down the griddle.
- Jersey Mike’s employees can pull fresh ingredients from untouched, clean containers at the request of the customer.
- In the Jersey Mike’s in Greenwood Village, CO (where I live), the gluten-free sub is prepared on a different surface than the prep area used for making other sandwiches.
Did Nima Sensor Find Gluten at Jersey Mike’s?
I used my Nima Sensor, a portable gluten-detecting device, to find out if the food at Jersey Mike’s was really gluten free.
To test something for hidden gluten, you simply put a pea-sized amount of the food into a single-use test capsule, wait 1-2 minutes, and then Nima will reveal if gluten is present (or not).
A smiley face means no gluten found. A “Gluten Found” message means the device found gluten. (Read: Is the Nima Sensor Accurate?)
I tested both the bread and the meat inside my sandwich (two separate tests). You can watch me test my food for hidden gluten in the following video.
In case you don’t have time to watch the full video, you can rest assured that my sandwich tested a-okay – no gluten found!
Additional Information
Want to buy a Nima Sensor of you rown? Nima Sensor has rebranded at Nima Partners and you can purchase a Nima Sensor on the new Nima Partners website.
Read how other restaurants fared when put to the Nima Sensor test:
- What’s Gluten-Free at the Cheesecake Factory?
- What’s Gluten Free at the Olive Garden
- Is the Panera Gluten-Free Menu Really Gluten Free?
- How to Eat Gluten-Free at Bonefish Grill
Eat out often? Download my Ultimate Guide to Eating Out Gluten Free or read my book, Dear Gluten, It’s Not Me, It’s You.
Thinking of eating at Subway instead? Think again after reading my article about the non-existent gluten-free protocols at Subway.
Jersey Mike’s truly have terrible fall apart rolls that are throw backs to what was available 20 years ago, before GF manufacturers figured out how to make rolls and breads that are chewy and moist. Even JM manufacturer makes much better rolls for other restaurants.
However, the real problem with their subs was the lack of meat and cheese…jeeezzz guys, not even an 1/8″ of protein and the ham was just a pressed square block of pseudo ham/SPAM with no taste.
Also, their seems to be a lot of false health claims from self proclaimed GF experts. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that has slow developing intestional systems when gluten is consumed over time that deteriorated the intestional cilia. It is not a an alerrgy. That is a very rare different disease with different symptoms.
So may other restaurants that have better rolls and meat in their subs, I would never go back to JM’s.
Yes I verified the GF sub options and they’re listed in this post.
How have you confirmed that ALL of their cold cuts options are gluten free? From your article, I think you verified that the meats on your sandwich are gluten free, but I doubt that’s the whole menu. Most cold cuts contain gluten. If a manufacturer offers a gluten free meat, it will be clearly marked. Only Boars Head guarantees that their entire line is gluten-free, but I did not see a “serving Boars Head…” sign (most restaurants would want to brag about that because they’re $$).
I’m just saying, we ate at Jersey Mikes last night, the manager guaranteed clean gloves, clean knives, clean, designated surface for my tuna witb cheese on a gluten free sub, but I still got hit with symptoms.
If you look at Jersey Mike’s website they have ingredients in the meats such as smoke flavoring, and other ingredients that make them unsafe for people with Celiac Disease. 🙁
I was at Jersey Mike’s at the Monroe commons in NY at the food court. They told me the bread was gluten free. When I asked them about meats and cheeses they told me they were not gluten-free! I was very disappointed!
I asked them what did they put in their tuna. After hearing the ingredients I told them that the tuna must be gluten-free!
I would have loved the Philly sandwich! I just saw a video on Facebook where she tested the meat inside that sandwich and it was gluten-free! Please instruct your people about this!!
Oh no! Thanks for the heads up.
My store in Vadnais Heights Minnesota makes my sub in a separate location ,but won’t use separate toppings from a clean area. I get the same toppings as every one else. The cross contamination worries me!
I’m so glad it worked out for you. Yay!!
I had a Jersey Mike’s Gluten Free sun for the first time today in Glenmont, NY. You have NO IDEA how awesome it was to be able to have a REGULAR sub. I haven’t had on in over 13 years until today and it was fantastic. I have Celiac Disease and had absolutely no issues and believe me, I would’ve been sicker than a dog if there was any gluten or cross contamination. Thank you Jersey Mike’s !!!!