Each day, approximately 1 million pizzas are consumed in Italy. Pizza here is popular both among locals and tourists who want to try a taste of authentic Italian cuisine. There are around 63,000 pizzerias in Italy, employing about 100,000 pizza makers.
World Record for Eating the Most Pizza
Champion pizza eater, Geoffrey Esper, holds the world record for eating the most 9-inch pizzas. Would you believe that he scarfed down 19.25 pizzas in just 10 minutes? This means he ate nearly two pizzas per minute!
But the modern birthplace of pizza is southwestern Italy's Campania region, home to the city of Naples.
Americans aged six to 19 are four times more likely to be found eating pizza than those over 60. The USDA also asks people to complete detailed food diaries to find out what they are eating when.
Older children from the ages 6-11 and adolescents from 12-19, eat the most pizza, with 22% consumed daily. Adults age 60 and over consume the least amount of pizza, with only 6%, according to the study.
Kids should not eat more than one or two slices of pizza for a meal, and should pair that with salad, rather than with another high-calorie food, the researchers concluded.
Born in 2001 from a dream to make gourmet pizzas, the first Crust Pizza store opened in Annandale, New South Wales.
The popularity of pepperoni pizza had only started to rise in the 1950s. Nowadays, beef pepperoni pizza is the most popular pizza variety, but there are also versions such as fish pepperoni pizza and port pepperoni pizza.
A pizza dubbed Pizza Louis XIII and created by master pizza chef Renato Viola is currently the most expensive pizza in the world. For $12,000, Viola will personally come to your home, along with a chef and a sommelier, to prepare his pizza.
Record holder: Tom Waes
Putting the rest of the pizza-loving nations around the world to shame, Belgium was the site of the fastest pizza gobble of all time. Tom Waes devoured a hot, cheesy 12-inch pie in a mere 2 minutes, 19.91 seconds.
The chain teamed up with YouTube star Airrack to make a 14,000 square feet pie. Guinness named it the world's largest pizza. What's made with 13,653 pounds of dough, 4,948 pounds of pizza sauce, 8,800 pounds of cheese and 630,496 pieces of pepperoni?
The number of pizzas sold in a single day. Domino's Pizza team members sold an astonishing 8,125 pizzas, trumping a former Domino's World Record of 5,382 set by a Domino's franchise in Australia.
According to Guinness World Records, Turkey has the largest per capita consumption of bread in the world as of 2000, with 199.6 kg (440 lb) per person; Turkey is followed in bread consumption by Serbia and Montenegro with 135 kg (297 lb 9.9 oz), and Bulgaria with 133.1 kg (293 lb 6.9 oz).
The International Dairy Federation estimates that France holds the title for the most cheese consumed in a year per capita, but Italy boasts a close second.
Primarily regarded as the first pizza ever created, the tried-and-tested margherita pizza was created in 1899 and continues to dominate as Australia's most popular pizza takeaway choice.
The nation's least favorite pizza topping is anchovies: 29% say it's their least favorite. You could say anchovies are polarizing but people lean hard to one pole: Only 1% name them as their favorite topping. Jalapeños (8%), pineapple (6%), eggplant (6%), broccoli (5%), and mushrooms (5%) follow — far behind.
Other pizza-loving stars include former Bachelor Matt James, Meryl Streep, Will Ferrell and Kendall Jenner, just to name a few.
A common unique type is the Aussie, Australian or Australiana, which has the usual tomato base or a seasoned base and mozzarella cheese with options of chicken, ham, bacon and egg (seen as quintessentially Australian breakfast fare). Pizzas with seafood such as prawns are also popular.
Pizza has become one of the Australia's favourite dishes. That's surprising considering that pizza was only really introduced in Australia in the late-1940s, when Italians and Greeks migrated to Australia following the Second World War.
The "Aussie" was invented by the late Salvatore Della Bruna, the Picasso of Australia's pizza heritage who established this country's first pizza parlour, Toto's on Melbourne's Lygon Street.
When can babies and kids eat pizza? Pizza is best introduced after 12 months of age because it tends to be high in sodium and is a potential choking hazard.
If you have two slices, it's not going to derail your progress, but swapping out one slice for a salad or other veggies could help stay satisfied longer — and save you extra fat and calories.
The Pizza Company
The largest pizza chains in the world are based in the United States and include names such as Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ), Pizza Hut – owned by Yum! Brands, Inc.