Grilled Cheese Pizza: A Cheesy Trend?

Grilled cheese pizza was the winner of the Pizza Inn's in-house contest across the chain to come up with new types of pizza for its national menu. 

Though a variant abomination is portrayed on This Is Why You're Fat  -- with quarters jutting from a single crust -- the Pizza Inn version

seems somewhat less disturbing. Created by Debbie Seaton, a 31-year

veteran employee of the chain from Elizabethton, Tennessee, the pizza

features a grilled cheese center that's a mix of mozzarella and cheddar

with "grilled cheese sauce" that, we're guessing, is tomato. The release

reads that it was "born out of simplicity and taste, reminiscent of the

grilled cheese sandwiches mom would make." Seems extra cheesy to me.

Despite campaigns for more healthful eating, society's love

affair with cheese is stoked by varying sources, the result of which translates to

Americans eating an average of 33 pounds of cheese a year, triple the

1970 rate, reported the New York Times.

Exactly a year ago, the New York Times reported on how the marketing arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (funded by private producers)

linked with Domino's to help them develop a new line of pizzas with 40 percent

more cheese, funded by a $12 million marketing campaign.

A year after launch, extra-cheese pizzas named "Domino's American Legends" dominate the menu with eight varieties, more than any style pizza on the menu.

The extra-cheese rationale touted on the website

reads, "We've listened to you, America! You want MORE and we delivered,

with our line of American Legends specialty pizzas. We fulfilled your

need for more flavor, more variety, more toppings and most importantly

-- MORE CHEESE." The site claims that 67 percent of consumers want more cheese

on pizza.

Floridians will have to stick with Domino's and other chains' extra-cheese varieties, since the Dallas-based Pizza Inn has yet to enter Florida's

pizza-saturated market. If you happen to come across one of the many locations

across the country, the grilled-cheese pizza is now available at the

buffet. Or if you're truly craving one, perhaps you could lobby your

local pizzaiolo.