Great Michigan Pizza Funeral facts for kids
The Great Michigan Pizza Funeral was a very unusual event that happened on March 5, 1973. It was a special ceremony where nearly 30,000 frozen cheese and mushroom pizzas were buried in Ossineke, Michigan. The pizzas belonged to a company called Papa Fabbrini Pizzas, owned by Mario Fabbrini.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had told Fabbrini to recall his pizzas. This was because early tests suggested that some canned mushrooms used in the pizzas might have contained bacteria that cause botulism. Botulism is a serious illness. Mario Fabbrini decided to bury the pizzas in a public ceremony. He wanted to show everyone that he was taking responsibility. He also hoped to get some attention for his company.
A large crowd watched as the pizzas were dumped into an 18-foot (5.5 m) deep hole. The governor of Michigan, William Milliken, even spoke at the event. Later, more tests by the FDA showed that there was no botulism in the pizzas after all. Fabbrini later sued his mushroom suppliers. In 1979, a court awarded him $211,000. However, his business closed a few years later.
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Who Was Mario Fabbrini?
Mario Fabbrini came from a place called Fiume in Croatia. He had lived through difficult times under different governments. After World War II, he moved to the United States. He settled in Ossineke, Michigan.
Fabbrini started making and selling frozen pizzas from his home kitchen. His wife, Olga, helped him. They changed his traditional recipes to suit American tastes. In just nine years, Fabbrini's business, Papa Fabbrini Pizzas, grew a lot. It became one of the most modern pizza factories in the country. His factory had 22 employees. It could make 45,000 pizzas every week!
Why Were the Pizzas Recalled?
In January 1973, workers at a company called United Canning Company in Ohio noticed a problem. Some cans of mushrooms were swelling up. This can be a sign of contamination. The company had recently started using a new machine to fill cans. This machine was not as clean as filling cans by hand. It also sometimes overfilled the cans.
United Canning told the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the problem. The FDA took samples of the mushrooms for testing. The FDA said their first tests showed signs of botulism. Botulism is a very dangerous illness for people.
The FDA then contacted all the companies that bought mushrooms from United Canning. This included a wholesaler who sold the mushrooms to Mario Fabbrini. On February 19, 1973, the FDA told Fabbrini to recall his pizzas. Fabbrini thought about 30,000 pizzas were affected. This cost him about $30,000. The pizzas would have sold for about $60,000 in stores. This was the biggest pizza recall in American history at that time. The FDA found no evidence that anyone got sick from Fabbrini's pizzas.
The Great Pizza Funeral Event
Mario Fabbrini decided to make the disposal of the pizzas a public event. He wanted to show he was responsible. He also hoped to get a lot of attention for his company. He called the event a "funeral." It became known as the "Great Michigan Pizza Funeral" or the "Great Pizza Burial."
The event took place on March 5, 1973. Several hundred people came to watch. Ossineke was a small village with only about 1,800 people at the time. News reports from that time said 40,000 or 44,000 pizzas were buried. However, later court papers showed Fabbrini buried 29,188 pizzas.
The pizzas were still in their plastic wrappers. Four dump trucks tipped them into an 18-foot (5.5 m) deep hole. After the pizzas were buried, Fabbrini placed a wreath on the grave. It had red gladioli and white carnations. Some say these flowers represented the colors of pizza sauce and cheese.
Michigan Governor William Milliken was there. He gave a speech about courage in tough times. Fabbrini then gave Governor Milliken a frozen pizza. He also cooked pizzas on site for everyone to eat. When someone asked if the food was safe, Fabbrini joked, "Gov. Milliken ate a piece and he's still alive!"
What Happened Next?
Even though he said he didn't blame his suppliers, Fabbrini sued United Canning and Tolono Pizza Products. He asked for $1 million. The case finally ended in 1979. A court awarded Fabbrini $211,000. About one-third of this money went to pay his lawyers. In the early 1980s, Papa Fabbrini Pizzas went out of business. Fabbrini sold what was left of his company for $5,000.
After the funeral, the FDA did more tests. They found that their first test results were wrong. The lab mice used in the tests had died from a different illness, not botulism. So, the pizzas were actually safe!
The story of the pizza funeral has been shared in many modern articles. These include stories in Atlas Obscura and Canadian Pizza Magazine.
