Olives, anchovies, capers or mushrooms - there are plenty of pizza toppings that have people divided.

But one has been getting plenty of heat lately - pineapple - and even the Icelandic President has weighed in, saying he would ban the tropical fruit from pizza.

President Guðni Th. Johannesson​ spoke to students at a high school in the northern Icelandic town of Akureyri, later taking questions.

The all important, and divisive, question of whether pineapple belongs on pizza was answered by the president, who said he was "fundamentally opposed" to the idea.

Social media leapt to the president's defence, as he was criticised for his not-so-sweet pizza diplomacy.

Iceland's President has said he would ban pineapple on pizza. The type of guy that should be leading us here in the UK — Mark Lawrence (@MLawrenceJourno) February 21, 2017

The President of Iceland wants to ban pineapple on pizza.

This man should, obviously, be put in charge of the whole world. — Amanda (@Pandamoanimum) February 21, 2017

But whether or not it could actually be banned is out of the question, he later clarified.

On Tuesday, the president clarified his stance on Facebook: "I like pineapples, just not on pizza. I do not have the power to make laws which forbid people to put pineapples on their pizza. I am glad that I do not hold such power".


"Presidents should not have unlimited power. I would not want to hold this position if I could pass laws forbidding that which I don't like. I would not want to live in such a country."

Yfirlýsing í stóra pítsumálinu - a statement on the pizza-controversy :) Mér finnst ananas góður, bara ekki á pítsu. Ég... Posted by Forseti Íslands on Tuesday, February 21, 2017

And with that all cleared up, the president annoyed others with his preferred choice of topping: seafood.

The president of Iceland has issued a statement clarifying his pineapple on pizza remarks https://t.co/Fi7VXSWfs6 pic.twitter.com/P68Y5o0hnv — Alberto Nardelli (@AlbertoNardelli) February 21, 2017

It's not clear if the president's approval ratings - which are at times as high as 97 per cent - will suffer as a result of his standing on the topic of pineapple pizza.

Stuff