Introduction
Pizza refers to a type of baked bread that is often topped with special kinds of meat and vegetables. Pizza is one of the best selling types of fast foods in the market apparently due to its diverse forms, mouth-watering aroma, and numerous ingredients (Torres par. 14). The modern pizza traces its origin to Italy albeit it has been customized to reflect the differentials in the customers’ tastes and preferences.
Pizza is an all-time food that may be served at any time during the day. While the majority of people prefer pizza during breakfast, others like it at other times of the day when it is hot. Pizza is prepared diversely in different countries, and it may be sold fresh or frozen. However, inasmuch as pizza has gained acceptance among global consumers, it is attributed to certain health issues. Its high fat content and high-energy contents are attributed to obesity, hypertension, and cancer among other health complications (Gallus et al. 75). This paper analyzes the facts about pizza to gain insights on the reasons why it has gained much popularity across the globe.
Reasons for its wide acceptance
Affordability
One of the reasons why pizza is attractive to the American populace is its pocket-friendliness. Unlike other types of foods, pizza is affordable to many people across the globe. The affordability of pizza is attributed to its customizability, which allows the clients to choose what to be added to the basic formulation. The pizza prices vary greatly from one restaurant to the other depending on the ingredients added. For low-income earners, the meat may be excluded from the final pie to make it affordable. For the middle-income earners, the pizza may be prepared at high-quality standards and sold at a premium price.
The wide variety of ingredients compatible with pizza facilitates its customization based on the cost, thus, making it affordable for most people. In the contemporary US restaurants, pizzas are sold at different prices depending on the quality of the product (Galazka par.11). The pizzas also vary in size with the small ones retailing at a lower price than the bigger ones. The varying sizes facilitate the consumption of the meal in parties owing to the view that consumers can purchase one big pizza as opposed to many small pies. Therefore, price discrimination based on the client’s needs makes the pizza affordable and attractable to every individual.
Deliciousness
The other reason why pizza has turned into a worldwide favorite is its lusciousness. Pizza may be customized to fit the customer’s tastes and preferences and reflect different religious and ethnic backgrounds. It is important to note that the customers’ tastes are largely subject to their beliefs (Torres par. 16). In some religions, some types of meals are not allowed owing to stereotypical stories attached to them. Given that pizza may be customized to reflect such differences, it becomes attractive to the majority of individuals.
In most restaurants, it is prepared based on the specifications given by a customer when placing the order. This aspect eliminates the chances of inclusion of ingredients that may not fit the customers’ dietary requirements. Tourists specifically have different tastes, and they may not find their local food in foreign restaurants. Therefore, to bridge this satisfaction gap, tourists tend to order customized pizzas to ensure that they consume only what they prefer. The colorful nature of this fast food makes it exceptionally appealing to the consumers. Additionally, pizza may be served with different soft and alcoholic drinks based on the customers’ tastes.
All-time food
Another feature that makes pizza irresistible is its all-time edibility nature. It may be served at different hours during the day, and it is not restricted to certain meals based on time. It may be served fresh or frozen, which increases the customers’ choices (McGuire 456). For example, most people may prefer a freshly fits owing to the high served pizza in the morning and a frozen one at some other time during the day.
Therefore, the fresh-frozen aspect of this meal makes it consumable at any time of the day. As opposed to other types of foods that cannot be served at certain types of the day, pizza may be consumed at any time of the day. The variation of the ingredients is the most important factor to consider when making a choice to eat pizza during breakfast or subsequent meals. For example, the morning pies may be served with vegetables while meat could be added to the pies served during lunch or dinner. Therefore, the ability to input different ingredients makes it servable at different meals.
One-stop balanced diet
The dietary value attributed to the Pizza makes it even highly attractive to the consumers, as it tends to satisfy all the dietary requirements in one meal. This foodstuff is made up of wheat flour, meat, and certain selected types of vegetables. The three listed ingredients represent different types of diets including carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins respectively. Medics recommend that an individual should eat a whole meal containing all the three listed types of foods for healthy living (Gallus et al. 75).
Sourcing each of the three dietary components from different types of foods may not be as satisfying as pizza would. Pizza is a kind of a one-stop meal for the entire dietary requirements. The addition of different ingredients to the pizza makes it a form of a balanced diet meal, and thus, people tend to prefer it to taking the different classes of foods separately to achieve a balanced meal. The color is attractive by itself due to the addition of the various vegetables such as tomato sauce and onions. As noted previously, pizza may be served at any time during the day. Therefore, one may take it for all the meals and be assured of a balanced diet.
Health benefits
The health benefits attributed to the consumption of this food are cited as another factor that contributes to its increased consumption. Pizza is arguably one of the limited types of food that reduce the chances of contracting chronic illnesses. Research indicates that regular eaters of this meal have a reduced chance of experiencing cardiac illnesses owing to the inclusion of the tomato sauce into the recipe. The tomato sauce ingredient added to pizza is rich in lycopene, which is an oxidant that is attributed to better cardiac health (Bruso par. 4).
However, the health benefits only accrue to the eaters of hot pizza as opposed to the cold ones. Hot pies are arguably good sources for lycopene hence consumers seeking to improve their cardiac health should go for the hot ones. It is alleged that deep-fried hot pies are richer in oxidants than the ones prepared using other cooking methods. Besides, heavy feeders of pizza may not benefit from cardiac benefits owing to the high-fat contents in the pies.
The view concerning the effectiveness of this meal in the reduction of cardiac conditions is well known amongst most Americans, which explains the high embracement of the meal. Another important health benefit accruing from occasional consumption of pizza is the prevention of cancer. The tomato sauce added to the pies not only helps in the prevention of the cardiac conditions, but it also deters the multiplication of the cancer cells. A section of medical experts argue that eating pizza at least once a week may reduce the chances of getting stomach, colon, mouth, prostate, esophageal, and lung cancer significantly (Knight par. 9). With the increasing number of cancer patients, pizza could be recommended as a preventative measure.
Festivals
Another important factor worth mentioning when exploring the reasons why pizza consumption has increased tremendously over the past few decades is the fact that it is at the heart of every celebration. In the US and some parts of Canada, people devote a day for the celebration of this meal. In the mentioned regions, pizza festivals are held in October each year where people buy additional pies for themselves and their families (Bruso par. 6). The devotion of a day for the described purpose has increased the overall popularity of pizza in the US. The festivals ignite competition in the making of the pies among the American chefs. Such competitions increase the public awareness of the availability of the commodity in the market leading to more consumption.
Criticisms
Even though the consumption of pizzas has increased tremendously in the past few decades, there have been health concerns about overconsumption. Critics state that inasmuch as this foodstuff has some health benefits as described earlier in this paper, the heavy consumption might be counterproductive. The argument about health issues arising from pizza consumption is based on the view that the pies are rich in fat and calories. Pizza is attributed to high fat and energy contents, which increase the chances of contracting illnesses such as obesity, heart attacks, and cancer among others (Galazka par. 8).
Scientifically, high fat consumption may predispose a person to heart diseases or obesity. Therefore, the high fat contents may predispose heavy consumers to the highlighted health conditions. On the other hand, the high-energy content may lead to the development of diabetes type 2 and obesity in the long-term. The mentioned two illnesses are deleterious, and their attachment to pizza consumption makes it unattractive to some people across the globe.
Conclusion
Pizza is a worldwide food icon that meets different dietary needs owing to its customizability. The consumption of this foodstuff has increased tremendously over the past few decades apparently due to its deliciousness and affordability. The health factors associated with this meal have also increased its consumption. Pizza is said to offer a solution to cardiac illnesses and certain types of cancers. Besides, the pies are usually prepared in different sizes and with varied ingredients to fit the consumers’ tastes.
This food fits perfectly in various festivals including birthdays and weddings. In some countries, such as the US and Canada, people celebrate The Pizza Day every October. In such festivals, chefs compete for the preparation of the best pies. Such events increase awareness among the consumers about the product hence raising its annual consumption rates.
Works Cited
Bruso, Jessica. The Benefits of Pizza 2014. Web.
Galazka, Kasia. 10 Scientific Reasons to Eat More Pizza 2014. Web.
Gallus, Silvano, Renato Talamini, Cristina Bosetti, Eva Negri, Maurizio Montella, Silvia Franceschi, Attilio Giacosa, and Carlo Vecchia. “Pizza Consumption and the Risk of Breast, Ovarian, and Prostate Cancer.” European Journal of Cancer Prevention 15.1 (2006): 74-76. Print.
Knight, Kathy. Have another Slice: The Surprising Health Benefits Of Pizza 2012. Web.
McGuire, Shelly. “Rhodes DG, Adler ME, Clemens JC, LaComb RP, Moshfegh AJ Consumption of pizza: What we eat in America, NHANES 2007–2010. Food Surveys Research Group Dietary Data Brief No. 11. February 2014.” Advances in Nutrition 5.4 (2014): 456-57. Print.
Torres, Gabriela. The People who Eat Pizza Every Day 2014. Web.