The Pizza Topping Iceland's President Once Wanted To Outlaw

It's perhaps the most infamous food-related debate the world has ever seen. Calling into review centuries of culinary tradition and dividing family and friends, the ever-present question remains: does pineapple belong on pizza? Well, for one former president of Iceland, the answer is a definite no. In 2017, while speaking at a high school in northern Iceland, then President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson was asked not about the economy or international affairs, but rather his favorite pizza toppings. The president emphatically expressed that he was staunchly anti-pineapple, joking that if he possessed the power to do so, he would enact a national ban on the sweet pizza topping.

Believe it or not, if put into law, this wouldn't have been the island nation's first culinary ban. Previously, Iceland banned beer for more than 70 years, including both sales and consumption, in a sweeping national law strikingly similar to the 1920s Prohibition in the United States. Unlike alcohol, however, pineapple on pizza doesn't have the ability to impair one's judgment. In this case, Jóhannesson's statement simply came down to preference. Afterward, in a statement released on X (formerly Twitter) by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) "As It Happens" radio show, Jóhannesson revealed, "For pizza, I prefer seafood." Compared to pineapple, that is certainly an unconventional pizza topping.

What started as a playful joke by President Jóhannesson quickly became an international media frenzy. This was especially the case in Canada, where, despite its name, Hawaiian pizza actually owes its origins. Proud of their culinary heritage, passionate Canadians took to the internet to express their disappointment in the Icelandic president. The outrage even made its way to the then Canadian Prime Minister. Posting to X (formerly Twitter) in February 2017, Justin Trudeau responded to Jóhannesson's comments, writing, "I have a pineapple. I have a pizza. And I stand behind this delicious Southwestern Ontario creation."

Some loyal pineapple fans went even further than written statements. Amidst the debate, the Icelandic embassies of the United Kingdom's official X account posted a photo of several Hawaiian pizzas sent in by enthusiastic pizza enjoyers, with one box even reading, "Long live the pineapple pizza." Regardless of his distaste for pineapple on pizza, Jóhannesson eventually backtracked on his comments following the media debacle. In the aforementioned statement to CBC's "As It Happens," he clarified, "I do not have the power to make laws which forbid people to put pineapple on their pizza. I am glad that I do not hold such power. Presidents should not have unlimited power" (via X). In the end, no laws were passed, meaning that to this day, residents of Iceland are still able to eat as much Hawaiian pizza as they wish.