In a decision that has sent shockwaves through the international culinary community, fractured a sixty-year diplomatic alliance, and triggered an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council’s newly formed Subcommittee on Cheese-Related Geopolitical Tensions, UNESCO has officially granted Chicago-style deep dish pizza World Heritage Status.

The designation — which places deep dish alongside the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, and the Great Barrier Reef — was approved by a 14-3 vote during a special session in Paris on Wednesday. Italy’s representative had to be physically restrained by delegates from Luxembourg and Senegal after attempting to overturn a folding table. Belgium abstained, citing “waffle neutrality.”

“Deep dish pizza represents humanity’s refusal to accept structural limitations on dairy,” read the official UNESCO citation, stamped with the organization’s highest classification: Culinary Asset of Irreplaceable Civilizational Significance (CAICS-1). “Where others saw a flat piece of dough and said ‘this is enough cheese,’ Chicago looked at that same dough and said ‘what if we made it into a bucket and then filled that bucket with cheese?’ That is the spirit of innovation this body exists to protect. The bucket is the breakthrough.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson held a celebratory press conference at Lou Malnati’s on State Street, where he declared March 1st “Deep Dish Appreciation Day” and announced that the city would be commissioning a 40-foot bronze sculpture of a pizza slice for Daley Plaza. “This is what happens when you believe in cheese,” the mayor said to thunderous applause. “This is Chicago’s moment.” He also announced plans to establish a Deep Dish Preservation Fund through the Office of Budget and Management.

The Italian government issued a strongly worded response through its embassy in Washington, calling the decision “an affront to thousands of years of culinary tradition,” “a procedural travesty of the highest order,” and “further evidence that the American palate cannot be trusted with serious food decisions.” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the designation “an outrage,” adding that “no amount of UNESCO paperwork can turn a casserole into a pizza.” A spokesperson for Rome’s city council echoed the sentiment, calling deep dish “a casserole in denial.”

Local pizza shop owners have been ecstatic. “I’ve been telling people for thirty years that what we do here is art,” said Rick Benedetto, owner of Ricobene’s in Bridgeport. “Now I’ve got the United Nations backing me up. I got a certificate number and everything. Try arguing with that, Uncle Tony in Naples. Call me back when your margherita has a UNESCO docket reference.”

The UNESCO committee has also announced it will begin deliberations next month on whether to grant protected status to the Italian beef sandwich, a proposal that sources say has already caused three Italian diplomats to resign in protest and one to file a motion demanding the word “Italian” be stricken from the sandwich’s name “through all available regulatory channels.”