Great Michigan Pizza Funeral

Last updated January 19, 2025

The Great Michigan Pizza Funeral (also referred to as the Great Pizza Funeral of Michigan and the Great Pizza Burial) was the ceremonial disposal of 29,188 frozen cheese-and-mushroom pizzas in Ossineke, Michigan, on March 5, 1973.^[1]^[2] The manufacturer, Ilario "Mario" Fabbrini,^[3] had been ordered to recall the pizzas by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after initial tests suggested the presence of botulism-causing bacteria in a batch of canned mushrooms.

Fabbrini decided to ceremonially dispose of the pizzas to demonstrate accountability and receive publicity. The pizzas were tipped into an 18-foot (5.5 m) deep hole in the ground before a crowd of onlookers, who were addressed by Michigan governor William Milliken. Later tests by the Food and Drug Administration ruled out botulism. Notwithstanding, Fabbrini sued his suppliers, and the Michigan Court of Appeals awarded him $211,000 in 1979, though he closed his business a few years later.

Background

Ilario Fabbrini came from Rijeka, Croatia. Having lived under fascist Italian rule and then in communist Yugoslavia, he emigrated to the United States after World War II. Settling in Ossineke, Michigan, he began making and selling frozen pizzas from his home kitchen.^[4] Fabbrini's wife, Olga, helped him adapt the traditional recipes of his hometown to suit American tastes.^[4]^[5] Within nine years, Fabbrini had grown his business, Papa Fabbrini Pizzas, into one of the most modern pizza factories in the country.^[1]^[4] His plant, which employed 22 people, could produce 45,000 pizzas a week.^[4]

Alleged botulism contamination

In January 1973, employees at the United Canning Company of East Palestine, Ohio, noticed several cans of mushrooms were swelling, indicating contamination.^[4]^[6]^[7] The plant had recently switched to an automated can-filling line, which was less sterile than the previous method of hand-filling, and also led to some overfilling of the cans. United Canning notified the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which took samples for testing.^[7]

The FDA stated that their tests confirmed the presence of botulism, a potentially fatal disease in humans.^[7]^[1] The customers of United Canning were contacted by the FDA, including Tolono Pizza Products, a Chicago wholesaler who had sold the mushrooms to Fabbrini.^[7] Fabbrini was himself contacted by the FDA on February 19, 1973, and told to recall his products.^[4]

Fabbrini estimated that 30,000 pizzas were involved, costing him $30,000 and a retail value of around $60,000.^[4]^[1] This was the largest recall of pizzas in American history then.^[1] The FDA found no evidence of illness caused by Fabbrini's pizzas, although 17 claims were made by members of the public.^[4] The company had 20 employees, who produced 9,500 pizzas per day.^[8] The factory was located at 6050 Gull Road, Osineke, Michigan.^[9]

Funeral

As a means of creating publicity and a demonstration of his accountability, Fabbrini organized a public disposal of the recalled pizzas on March 5, 1973.^[7]^[6] Fabbrini themed the occasion as a funeral, and it was later referred to as the "Great Michigan Pizza Funeral", the "Great Pizza Funeral of Michigan" and the "Great Pizza Burial".^[7]^[5]^[1]

Several hundred people attended the event at a time when Ossineke was a village of only 1,800 inhabitants.^[1] The press reported that 40,000 or 44,000 pizzas were buried, though, in later court documents, Fabbrini claimed to have only disposed of 29,188.^[7]^[1]^[10] The pizzas were tipped into an 18-foot (5.5 m) deep hole from four dump trucks.^[1] They were still enclosed in their cellophane wrappers.^[7]

After the burial, Fabbrini laid a wreath of red gladioli and white carnations on the grave, which a report in Atlas Obscura claims represented the colors of pizza sauce and cheese.^[11]^[6] The event was attended by Michigan governor William Milliken who gave a homily on the subject of courage in the face of tragedy.^[7] Pizza was served at the funeral.^[12] Governor Milliken was presented with a frozen pizza by Fabbrini, who cooked pizzas on-site to feed the attendees.^[1] When one attendee questioned the safety of eating the food offered, Fabbrini retorted, "Gov. Milliken ate a piece, and he's still alive".^[11]

The pizzas were memorialized a mock obituary.^[13]

Aftermath

Although he stated he did not blame his suppliers and would continue to use them, Fabbrini launched a Million dollar ($1,000,000) lawsuit against United Canning and Tolono Pizza Products.^[1]^[11] The case was finally settled in the Michigan Court of Appeals in 1979, with Fabbrini receiving $211,000.^[7] Around a third of the award was needed to pay Fabbrini's legal costs.^[5] After the recall, the Company struggled.^[8] In the early 1980s, Papa Fabbrini Pizzas went out of business, with Fabbrini selling its operation and assets for $5,000.^[5]^[7] The successor company went out of business shortly after the acquisition.^[8]

The initial FDA test results were overturned upon further investigation by the FDA and the Michigan state veterinarian. The deaths of the laboratory mice used in the tests were confirmed to be from an unrelated peritonitis case rather than botulism.^[7]

The pizza funeral has been covered by modern publications including the website of The Paris Review , online magazine Atlas Obscura , the American magazine Saveur and the Canadian Pizza Magazine.^[14]^[15]^[5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pizza</span> Italian dish with a flat dough-based base and toppings

Pizza is an Italian dish typically consisting of a flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Botulism</span> Human and animal disease

Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by botulinum toxin, which is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The disease begins with weakness, blurred vision, feeling tired, and trouble speaking. This may then be followed by weakness of the arms, chest muscles, and legs. Vomiting, swelling of the abdomen, and diarrhea may also occur. The disease does not usually affect consciousness or cause a fever.

Botulinum toxin, or botulinum neurotoxin, is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum and related species. It prevents the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from axon endings at the neuromuscular junction, thus causing flaccid paralysis. The toxin causes the disease botulism. The toxin is also used commercially for medical and cosmetic purposes. Botulinum toxin is an acetylcholine release inhibitor and a neuromuscular blocking agent.

Ossineke is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Alpena County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 932 at the 2020 census. The community is located within Sanborn Township, several miles south of Alpena on U.S. Highway 23.

Pepperoni is a variety of spicy salami made from cured pork and beef seasoned with paprika and chili peppers.

A product recall is a request from a manufacturer to return a product after the discovery of safety issues or product defects that might endanger the consumer or put the maker or seller at risk of legal action. Product recalls are one of a number of corrective actions that can be taken for products that are deemed to be unsafe.

Totino's and Jeno's are brands of frozen pizza products owned by General Mills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pizza Pops</span> Canadian commercial frozen meat/cheese snack

Pizza Pops are a Canadian calzone-type snack produced by Pillsbury. Pizza Pops are sold both pre-cooked and frozen. Typically, they can be reheated in a microwave oven. However, they may also be cooked in a conventional oven.

Beginning in March 2007, there was a widespread recall of many brands of cat and dog foods due to contamination with melamine and cyanuric acid. The recalls in North America, Europe, and South Africa came in response to reports of kidney failure in pets. Initially, the recalls were associated with the consumption of mostly wet pet foods made with wheat gluten from a single Chinese company.

This timeline of the 2007 pet food recalls documents how events related to the 2007 pet food recalls unfolded. Several contaminated Chinese vegetable proteins were used by pet food makers in North America, Europe and South Africa, leading to kidney failure in animals fed the contaminated food. Both the centralization of the pet food industry and the speed and manner of the industry and government response became the subjects of critical discussion.

In China, the adulteration and contamination of several food and feed ingredients with inexpensive melamine and other compounds, such as cyanuric acid, ammeline and ammelide, are common practice. These adulterants can be used to inflate the apparent protein content of products, so that inexpensive ingredients can pass for more expensive, concentrated proteins. Melamine by itself has not been thought to be very toxic to animals or humans except possibly in very high concentrations, but the combination of melamine and cyanuric acid has been implicated in kidney failure. Reports that cyanuric acid may be an independently and potentially widely used adulterant in China have heightened concerns for both animal and human health.

In 2007, a series of product recalls and import bans were imposed by the product safety institutions of the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand against products manufactured in and exported from the mainland of the People's Republic of China (PRC) because of numerous alleged consumer safety issues. The many product recalls within the year led Consumer Reports and other observers to dub 2007 "The Year of the Recall.”

Castleberry's Food Company is an Augusta, Georgia-based canned food company founded in the 1920s by Clement Stewart Castleberry with the help of his father Clement Lamar Castleberry and closed in March 2008 by the United States Food and Drug Administration until Hanover Foods bought the rights to Castleberry's food and name.

2008 Chinese heparin adulteration, refers to heparin adulteration incidents that occurred in the United States of America in 2008. Pharmaceutical company Baxter International subcontracted the creation of precursor chemicals of heparin to Scientific Protein Laboratories, an American company with production facilities located in China. Scientific Protein Laboratories then used counterfeit precursors to create the chemicals ordered. Baxter then sold this adulterated heparin in the US, which killed 81 people, and left 785 severely injured. This caught the attention of the media and the USA Food and Drug Administration leading to numerous ongoing lawsuits.

Food safety incidents in Taiwan have received international media scrutiny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buitoni</span> Italian food company

Buitoni is an Italian food company based in Sansepolcro. It was founded in 1827. They are known for their factory-produced products of pasta and sauces.

Events from the year 1973 in Michigan.

Canada has many of its own pizza chains, both national and regional, and many distinctive regional variations and types of pizza resulting from influences of local Canadian cuisine.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Milliken Attends Pizza Burial". The South Bend Tribune . March 6, 1973. Archived from the original on April 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ John. "A Bizarre Funeral for 30,000 Contaminated Frozen Pizzas". Plainly Difficult. Retrieved November 23, 2023– via YouTube date=November 23, 2023.
↑ "Tainted mushrooms end immigrant's Ossineke pizza factory". thealpenanews.com. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Mushroom Scare Hits Pizza Shop". The Daily Courier . Vol. 72, no. 94. March 2, 1973. p. 9. Archived from the original on April 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
1 2 3 4 5 Dao, Dan Q. (March 28, 2017). "Why This Immigrant Entrepreneur Threw a Massive Pizza Funeral". Saveur . ISSN 1075-7864. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020.
1 2 3 Giaimo, Cara (March 14, 2017). "The Day That Michigan Held a Funeral For 30,000 Pizzas". Atlas Obscura . Archived from the original on November 27, 2020.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Forty-Five Years Ago This Small Michigan Town Had a Pizza Funeral". No. February 28, 2018. Michigan Radio. Archived from the original on November 23, 2020.
1 2 3 Ogden, Jason (March 20, 2017). "Tainted mushrooms end immigrant's Ossineke pizza factory". The Alpena News . Retrieved January 11, 2025.
↑ Gordon, Lauren (March 8, 2013). "The Bizarre Reason 30,000 Pizzas are Buried in Michigan". WKFR . Retrieved January 11, 2025.
↑ "Pizza Served at Pizza Burial". Alexandria Daily Town Talk. Vol. 90, no. 354. United Press International. March 6, 1973. p. 5. Archived from the original on April 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
1 2 3 "'Funeral' Marks Mass Burial of 44,000 Pizzas". Battle Creek Enquirer . Associated Press. March 6, 1973. p. 11. Archived from the original on April 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ Gottlieb, Iris (August 20, 2024). Trash Talk: An Eye-Opening Exploration of Our Planet's Dirtiest Problem (Ebook). p. 105. ISBN 9780593712771.
↑ "In memory of Cheese and Mushroom Pizzas Ossineke, MI 1973 - March 5, 1973" . Retrieved January 11, 2025.
↑ Piepenbring, Dan (March 15, 2017). "The Pizza Is Poisoned, and Other News". The Paris Review. ISSN 0031-2037. Archived from the original on August 21, 2020.
↑ "Pizza History: The Massive Michigan Pizza Funeral That Never Had to Happen". Canadian Pizza Magazine. March 16, 2017. Archived from the original on April 4, 2021.