My thoughts on pizza have not changed – even when it is bad it’s pretty good. But no matter how good it tastes, it’s not protective against foodborne illness. A few weeks ago the University of Arizona’s office of official press releases ran out a bunch of info suggesting that researchers found a magic ingredient in pizza that stops the noro. 
After reading the paper, I took away that exposing a virus, that sort of acts like human norovirus, but but sort of doesn’t, to carvacrol (a component of oregano oil) for 15 min at a really high concentration you can get get a 1-log reduction after 15 min. Not quite as promising as the headline.
But good headlines, and a lack of critical eyes on the actual paper, begets stuff like what was posted at a site called Natural Society. According to Elizabeth Renter, serving more pizza on cruises would be a good risk management decision.
Recently, hundreds of people aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise fell ill with nausea, diarrhea, fever, and cramping marking their unpleasant symptoms. Norovirus had taken hold of the ship and left many vacationers sequestered to their rooms, unable to eat let alone enjoy their journey. What they didn’t know was that their condition may have been helped by something as simple as oregano oil.
Unlike antibiotics, the researchers say the norovirus wouldn’t likely develop a resistance to carvacrol because it’s attacking just the outermost layers. But it isn’t clear what “other” antimicrobial would be used to attack the internal norovirus once oregano oil has made it’s protective casing vulnerable.
A better fantasy tie in for the original press release and subsequent articles would have been to suggest that teenagers trying to hide pot from their parents by saying the baggie is full of oregano are less likely to get norovirus.