Tacoma, WA – November, 2007 – November is American Diabetes Month (ADM), which is designed to communicate the seriousness of diabetes and the importance of proper diabetes control. The theme for this year’s ADM is “The Many Faces of Diabetes” and throughout the month the ADA leverages opportunities both nationally and locally to raise awareness about a variety of issues relating to diabetes care and treatment.    In conjunction with ADM, Tacoma based Farrelli’s Wood Fire Pizza aims to educate individuals living with diabetes that they too have the choice of eating pizza.

John Farrell, founder of the 5 store company, saw first hand “The Many Faces of Diabetes” when a young boy with Type 1 diabetes named Elliot approached the founder of the company in their Tacoma store and asked if there was anything that he could eat that wouldn’t spike his blood sugar.  The founder regretfully replied that there was not, nevertheless Farrell didn’t overlook the request.

Katie Farrell, RD, CDE * piloted a year long research and development project for Farelli’s.  Traditional pizza is not diabetic friendly because the crust is normally made from refined grains, which has the nutrients of the grains stripped in the refining process.  Due to the lack of nutrients, the refined pizza dough breaks down faster and enters the blood stream as glucose, causing a blood sugar spike for those with diabetes.  Farrell’s research produced their 100% Whole Wheat Honey pizza dough. The diabetic friendly product was a runner up in the National Whole Grains Challenge.

The restaurant created and named their signature pizza made on their 100% Whole Wheat Honey Dough the Elliot’s Pizza.  Georgia Spiropoulos, had this to say regarding her diabetic daughter, “Alexa had the pizza and bread sticks and two hours later her blood sugar was 122 and stayed at those levels through the rest of the day.  That was wonderful; she got to have pizza and we did not have to worry and keep giving her insulin!”  The Five Farrelli’s units and Elliot’s parents share in the excitement of the local diabetic community about the choice of pizza being introduced as a dietary option. 

To learn more about Farrelli’s 100% Whole Wheat Pizza dough, please visit their website at www.farrellispizza.com.  To learn more about healthy eating and diabetic friendly choices please visit online at www.WholeGrainsCouncil.org and www.Diabetes.org