Blaze Pizza removes artificial ingredients from menu

Pasadena, CA – Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza has joined a growing list of quick-service food chains in committing to serving food without artificial additives. 

Plans for the new campaign, dubbed “Keepin’ It Real in 2017,” include an opportunity for guests to pledge their own commitment to clean eating, which in turn will unlock a special free Blaze Pizza offer.

The pizza chain said in a news release it has spent the past 18 months working with suppliers to remove artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and high fructose corn syrup from a short list of ingredients in the restaurants. It has “nixed the nitrites” in its cured meats, upgraded to salad dressings and garlic without artificial preservatives, switched to “true hue” black olives and banana peppers without artificial colours, and moved to a barbecue sauce made without high-fructose corn syrup. Additionally, the company has added Blue Sky cane sugar sodas, which will be offered alongside traditional Coca-Cola products.

“To deliver against our commitment, several of our sources upgraded their recipes just for us. In some cases, we had to seek out new partners,” said Blaze Pizza’s executive chef Bradford Kent, in the release. “It took months of review before we finally found a banana pepper that met our standards for both colour and taste, without artificial colours or preservatives, but it was worth the time invested. You really can taste the difference.”

The company said its dough is made from scratch daily using only a few familiar ingredients: unbleached flour, extra-virgin olive oil, filtered water, salt and a touch of sugar. Restaurants use a recipe developed by Chef Kent that requires a 24-hour fermentation period to produce the signature light-as-air, crisp crust. 

Additionally, all Blaze restaurants use packaging that is sustainable, including cups, lids and straws made from plant-based materials.

“We believe that food free from artificial additives simply tastes better,” said Jim Mizes, Blaze Pizza president and chief operating officer. “We’re fully committed to clean food – and we encourage other national pizza chains to follow suit.”

The company currently operates 173 restaurants in 31 states and Canada.