A West African lizard known as the world's most colourful has revealed a surprisingly refined palate, showing a clear preference for four-cheese pizza over a more complex four-seasons variety. This unusual discovery emerged from a lighthearted scientific study in Togo that has since been awarded an IgNobel Prize.
The Pizza Experiment in Togo
The research began with a simple observation by a scientist in Togo, where the rainbow lizard, or agama agama, is common. A vibrantly coloured male lizard was seen climbing onto a tourist's table to steal a piece of four-cheese pizza, an odd choice for a creature whose diet typically consists of insects.
Intrigued, a team set up a simple experiment in December 2025. They placed two plates about ten metres apart: one with four-cheese pizza and another with pizza quattro stagioni, a pie divided into sections representing the seasons with prosciutto, olives, artichokes, basil, tomatoes, and mushrooms.
The results were decisive. Within 15 minutes, a feeding frenzy ensued—but only around the four-cheese pizza. The multi-topping four-seasons pizza was completely ignored by the lizards. The precise chemical cue that attracted them remains a mystery, though the study's expenses were notably limited to the cost of the pizza slices.
Electrified Taste and Teflon Filling
The lizard pizza study is not the only offbeat research to win an IgNobel Prize, an award that honours achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think." The article by Joe Schwarcz connects it to other curious scientific endeavours.
One is the 2011 work by Japanese researchers Hiromi Nakamura and Homei Miyashita on augmented gustation using electricity. They found that passing a mild electric current through food via electrified chopsticks could enhance flavour, particularly saltiness, by making taste buds more sensitive to sodium ions.
This concept has evolved into a potential practical application. Miyashita later partnered with beverage company Kirin to develop an "electric spoon" that can make food taste saltier without adding actual salt, which could benefit populations like Japan's that consume high levels of sodium.
A Questionable Proposal for Satiety
The third IgNobel-winning idea discussed is perhaps the most controversial. A 2016 paper in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology proposed using powdered polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), commonly known as Teflon, as a food bulking agent.
The theory was that by mixing one part inert Teflon with three parts food, the increased volume would stretch the stomach more, enhancing feelings of fullness and reducing calorie intake. The authors cited rat studies showing no adverse effects from large PTFE ingestion.
However, Schwarcz points out a significant environmental flaw: the non-digestible Teflon would pass through the body and into the environment, eventually breaking down into nanoplastic particles that could re-enter the food chain and potentially cause harm. He concludes that while the lizard study is amusing and the electric utensils have potential, the proposal to add Teflon to food "should not and will not stick."
The article, part of Schwarcz's "The Right Chemistry" series for the Montreal Gazette, playfully suggests that if you have a pet rainbow lizard, you now know how to delight it. For humans, the author himself is on the hunt for a four-seasons pizza—though he plans to skip the salty winter quarter with prosciutto and olives.
