Ban pineapple on pizza? Iceland's president says he went too far

Pineapple on pizza.

Few culinary inventions are more divisive. Except, perhaps, for chunky peanut butter (it’s superior to smooth, in this writer’s opinion) or whether a hot dog is a sandwich (it obviously isn’t; a bun is not two pieces of bread unless you split it in half).

“Hawaiian pizza” may in fact be the one controversial thing Canada has given to the world. (Yes, it was invented by a Canadian.)

A simple search will show you just how full the internet is with people expounding on how much they love or hate pineapple as a pizza topping.

The debate really never ends.

Then there are people who doing this, which is just another thing entirely:

In February 2017, Yahoo Canada asked its Facebook followers if they liked pineapple on pizza. Interestingly (take that word how you will), two-thirds of people who commented said yes or that even if they didn’t, freedom of choice (ie, “I don’t have to eat it”) should win out. Only one third of commenters were repulsed by the idea. It may be lots of people actually enjoy pineapple on pizza and it is less divisive than the internet would have you believe – or it could just be that people who feel strongly in favour of pineapple on pizza are louder in comments sections (and/or are Yahoo Canada Facebook fans).

But what about banning pineapple on pizza? Does that go too far, or is it just right? Should people have the freedom to put whatever weird foods they want in their mouths, or are some things just beyond bad taste?

In February 2017, Icelandic President Gudni Johannesson told a high school he wanted to ban pineapple on pizza, sparking an international debate about the Canadian creation. Justin Trudeau even offered his opinion. He’s on #TeamPineapple, if you want to know, which might take you like or hate him more depending on your opinion of our prime minister.

Johannesson even angered Sam Panopoulos, the Ontario restauranteur who invented Hawaiian pizza in 1962.

“I’m sure he is a lot younger than I am and I was doing pizza when I was a young guy, you know what I mean?” Panopoulos told CBC News in 2017.

Johannesson later put out a statement saying he had no power to ban the topping, and now says he went too far with his remarks.

“That’s where the influence of this office sort of, yeah, got the better of me,” Johannesson told CBC News this week.

“As much as I do not like pineapple on pizza, the individual freedom of having the topping of your choice overrides that,” he added.

OK, so turns out he’s actually in agreement with most of our Facebook audience. Shrug emoij.

Johannesson also told CBC News he prefers fish on pizza. It’s not known if he meant dried fish, cod tongue, fish stomach, or fermented (aka rotten) shark, at least four Icelandic foods the internet has determined are “disgusting” and might make pineapple-on-pizza haters change their minds.

Do you think Johannesson went too far with his comments? Do you like pineapple on pizza? Or is it completely disgusting? Should pineapple on pizza be banned? Let us know by voting in the poll above.