Aparita

Saturday Night magazine

 

Once, it was not unusual for people to express their displeasure with high-ranking officials by hitting them with a pie, a fad Jean Chretien experienced firsthand. Recently, however, the egg has surged ahead as the protestor’s projectile of choice, as demonstrated by the egging of former U.S. president Bill Clinton’s motorcade during a visit to Toronto. We wondered, Which is it better to be hit by - an egg or a pie? To find out, Passing Show correspondent Aparita Bhandari asked experts to address the question of pastry versus poultry.

 

Rosie Shwartz
Consulting dietician and author of The Enlightened Eater

“Given the likelihood that the pie thrown will be a cream pie, there would be more calories in a pie because you will probably lick the whipped cream. So if you get hit by a chocolate cream pie, you might get approximately fifteen to twenty grams of fat per serving. If you are having an egg thrown at you, chances are it’s a raw egg, so you are less likely to lick it. There is also a risk of food poisoning. If you got it in your mouth, or you rubbed it in your hands and put your fingers in your mouth, then there is a risk of salmonella. But if you do lick up the egg, you are going to get about seventy-five calories and about five grams of fat. It is also a good source of protein, about six grams.”

 

Jasper McKee
Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba

“Having some interest in oology, which is the study of eggs, I will make a few comments. Firstly, a fresh egg and a boiled egg differ in a fundamental way. The raw egg has a yolk and albumenlike material within it, which acts as a drag on the rest of the contents. A boiled egg behaves and spins essentially as a rigid body. If you throw a boiled egg at anybody, it is essentially a missile of hard material, which can do significant damage. A fresh egg will likely strike an object sideways and break almost instantly, distributing its contents. A pie, on the other hand, will usually crumble directly on striking an object and may even disintegrate in flight. In addition, a discus, which a pie in many ways resembles, has been used by various communities as a means of decapitating an enemy. However, on the assumption that only a pie - and not a pie plate - is being projected towards the recipient, rapid disintegration of the pie, either in flight or on striking its target, is very likely, and beheading is unlikely.”

 

Patrick Charette
Media Relations, Department of Justice

“No matter what the offender throws, the action is considered to be an assault. Having said that, the charges will be determined based on the level of assault. There are several levels of assault, including assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm, as well as aggravated assault. It all depends on what level of harm the receiver of the egg or the pie endures. For example, bodily harm is defined as any injury that interferes with the health or comfort of a person, and that is more than merely trifling in nature. Beyond that, it’s not our role to provide a legal opinion, so it is up to you to interpret whether a person is more likely to experience bodily harm if he is hit with a raw egg or with a pie.”

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