Frozen Pizza gets Junkier

[haycreek]

USDA and frozen pizza mfg's are driving the wrong way on the freeway by reducing the meat requirement in a "meat" pizza to as low as 2%. Any wagers on what that meat will be replaced with in the total net weight? See this Aug 1, 2003 article:http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4019195.html

[gotbeer]

Pizza, minus cheese, sauce, crust

U.S. Dept. of Agriculture says products without cheese, tomato sauce or crust can be sold as pizza.

August 1, 2003: 7:55 AM EDT

link to article (http://money.cnn.com/2003/08/01/news/funny/pizza.reut/index.htm)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pizza products without tomato sauce, cheese or bread crust can still be sold as pizza under new government regulations, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday.

The USDA, which regulates meat and poultry, said consumers' expectations of pizza products were much broader than previously thought.

"(USDA) has determined that the standards for pizza with meat may be inhibiting manufacturers from producing and marketing styles of pizzas that today's consumers demand," the department said.

The USDA said it would also significantly reduce the minimum meat requirements in products labeled "pizza with meat." Products now only have to contain 2 percent cooked meat or 3 percent raw, instead of the previously required 12 percent cooked or 15 percent raw.

Food labels must identify the percent of meat and poultry in the product for at least three years, the department said.