Just hearing the word
"pizza" brings a smile to the face of just about every
American. Whatever style or variety -- from thick, Chicago-style
deep-dish pizza stuffed with gobs of cheese, sausage, and
pepperoni to a thin-as-a-cracker crust topped with veggies --
pizza invariably makes it to the top of "favorite food" lists.
Here, we've compiled a list of fun and interesting facts about
this American food icon. See how many you knew!
1. Since 1987, October has been officially
designated National Pizza Month in the United States.
2. Approximately three billion pizzas are sold
in the United States every year, plus an additional one billion
frozen pizzas.
3. Pizza is a $30 billion industry in the
United States.
4. Pizzerias represent 17 percent of all U.S.
restaurants.
5. Ninety-three percent of Americans eat pizza
at least once a month.
6. Women are twice as likely as men to order
vegetarian toppings on their pizza.
7. About 36 percent of all pizzas contain
pepperoni, making it the most popular topping in the United
States.
8. The first known pizzeria, Antica Pizzeria,
opened in Naples, Italy, in 1738.
9. More pizza is consumed during the week of
the
Super Bowl than any other time of the year.
10. On average, each person in the United
States eats around 23 pounds of pizza every year.
11. The first pizzeria in the United States was
opened by Gennaro Lombardi in 1895 in New York City.
12. The record for the world's largest pizza
depends on how you slice it. According to Guinness World
Records, the record for the world's largest circular pizza was
set at Norwood Hypermarket in South Africa in 1990. The gigantic
pie measured 122 feet 8 inches across, weighed 26,883 pounds,
and contained 9,920 pounds of flour, 3,968 pounds of cheese, and
1,984 pounds of sauce. In 2005, the record for the world's
largest rectangular pizza was set in Iowa Falls, Iowa. Pizza
restaurant owner Bill Bahr and a team of 200 helpers created the
129 X 98.6-foot pizza from 4,000 pounds of cheese, 700 pounds of
sauce, and 9,500 sections of crust. The enormous pie was enough
to feed the town's 5,200 residents ten slices of pizza each.
