Book By Seinfeld's Wife Stirs Controversy

Celebrity Mom Wrote A Cookbook With Similarities To One Already Published

(CBS)  It's a challenge that many parents face: getting the kids to eat their vegetables. Jessica Seinfeld, wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, thought she had the answer and wrote a book called "Deceptively Delicious" about how to hide vegetables within foods to trick children into eating them.

But first out of the gate in April was "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals," by Missy Chase Lapine, published by the Running Press, an imprint owned by Perseus Books.

A former publisher of Eating Well magazine, Lapine writes about how she developed a "hiding technique" to get her picky daughters to eat what she wanted them to.

Then came "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food," by Jessica Seinfeld, published in early October by Collins, a division of HarperCollins. In it Jessica Seinfeld tells of a weekly ritual she and her husband have of creating dozens of containers of vegetable purees to be added to meals for their three kids during the week.

Readers on Amazon.com immediately began comparing the two, testing recipes to see which book they liked better. And after Seinfeld appeared on Oprah on Oct. 8, sales of the book took off.

Seinfeld said thank you to the talk show host by sending Winfrey 21 pairs of shoes.

No one is accusing anyone of plagiarism. The idea of putting pureed vegetables in kids' food has been written about elsewhere many times, and recipes on the Internet abound for such dishes as brownies spiked with spinach and pudding with avocado. But the timing of the two books has certainly stirred more than appetites.

"The overlap in recipes seems pretty suspicious," wrote one reviewer on Amazon. "It's a bit sad really."

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Photos: Celebrity Circuit

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Longtime cooking show host and co-host of "Victory Garden" on public television Sissy Biggers reviewed both books and found that the books are indeed set up the same way, but the premise both are based on is really nothing new.

"Both of them approach the concept of hiding and deceiving your children using pureed foods and sneaking them into other recipes," she told The Early Show co-host Harry Smith. "But I have to say that I think since the cave woman, moms have been grinding, pureeing, folding, layering to get their kids to eat something."

Collins says it's just coincidence, but Perseus says some details closely mirror one another.

"Our author has also expressed some concerns about the many similarities between the books, and we understand and share her concerns," the publishing company said in a statement.
2According to Steve Ross, president of Collins, his company received a 130-some page proposal from Lapine for her book in May 2006. The company rejected it because they believed it was similar to another book in the works called "Lunch Lessons" by Ann Cooper and Lisa Holmes.

In June 2006, Seinfeld submitted her proposal with the help of an agent, and HarperCollins representatives met with her, partly because of her high profile, Ross said.

At that meeting, staff who sampled her recipes for macaroni and cheese and meatballs were "wowed," he said.

"In person, she was such an articulate and passionate spokesperson and advocate for the idea of having your children eat nutritious foods," he said. The company acquired the rights to the book in June.

Meanwhile, Lapine got a deal with Running Press after an auction among six different publishers, she said. She also pitched Oprah several times.

"Missy's idea is a great one and I would have thought it would have been seized by a publisher and Oprah right away, but she's not a media mega-mom like Jessica Seinfeld," Biggers said.

Even the covers of the book are alike. The cover of "The Sneak Chef" features a chef cartoon holding carrots behind her back and winking. On "Deceptively Delicious" a woman is winking and has carrots on her cutting board.

Biggers said one recipe in particular gave her pause: the gilled cheese.

"Putting a puree of butternut squash in between two slices of cheese; that's pretty unique," she said. "And keep in mind that Jessica's book came out about six months after Missy Lapine's book did."

"I got really upset," said Lapine. "My visceral action was 'Oh my god.' I was, like, heartbroken. I knew there was a book coming out by a famous person that was so incredibly similar."

David Steinberger, president and CEO of The Perseus Books Group, said he wrote a letter to HarperCollins expressing concern about the similarities.

While Collins did modify the cover to put the carrots on a counter, Ross said that was not in response to the letter. The company made no other changes, Ross said.

"We reviewed the allegations and found them to be completely without merit," he said.

Steinberger said Perseus is trying to get more information on how the similarities may have happened.

Seinfeld said she has never seen or read "The Sneaky Chef."

"My book came from years of trying to get my own children to eat healthy foods -- my own trial and error in my own kitchen," she said in a statement. "The idea of pureeing vegetables has been around for decades."

Seinfeld's agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh from William Morris Agency, said she and Seinfeld began discussing the idea in 2005. She said the book was already being bound when "The Sneaky Chef" came out.

Lapine said she is not accusing anyone of anything. But she said it does "hurt" to see someone else given credit for her method.

But with Americans focused on obesity and getting kids to eat better, both books are doing well: Seinfeld's will reach No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list for hardcover advice books Oct. 28, and Lapine's will be at No. 9 on the paperback counterpart list, according to the newspaper.

Collins is working around the clock to keep up with demand, Ross said, with 2.3 million copies of the book expected to be in print by the end of January.

[gwtwboofy]

What a waste of space. Who gives a rat''s A$$ one way or the other? Mr. and Mrs. Seinfeld evidently have too much time on their hands if they sit around pureeing vegetables to put in their kids'' food. Mmmm, grilled cheese with butternut squash in it... Oh yeah, I bet they just wolf that junk down. Give the kids a Flintstone''s vitamin for the love of Mike. Pediatricians agree that kids will eat when they are hungry and get the nutrients their bodies need from the food they do eat. All these tree-hugging, natural food junkie stories are getting old.

[gwtwboofy]

What a waste of space. Who gives a rat''s A$$ one way or the other? Mr. and Mrs. Seinfeld evidently have too much time on their hands if they sit around pureeing vegetables to put in their kids'' food. Mmmm, grilled cheese with butternut squash in it... Oh yeah, I bet they just wolf that junk down. Give the kids a Flintstone''s vitamin for the love of Mike. Pediatricians agree that kids will eat when they are hungry and get the nutrients their bodies need from the food they do eat. All these tree-hugging, natural food junkie stories are getting old.

[capmom15]

I first heard of Missy Lapine''s book, bought it and tried a few of the recipes. My kids were less than impressed. I then heard of Jessica Seinfeld''s book (on Oprah) and bought it as well. I was a little skeptical given my kids reaction to the other recipes. But, so far they''ve loved everything I''ve made. There aren''t that many similarities. Seinfeld, in my opinion, has paid more attention to the flavor and consistency than Lapine.

[amused8]

It takes more than just 6 months to write, acquire a publisher, get copyrights in order and print thousands of copies of a book. If most of the recipes were the same, I''d be yelling plagiarism. But only two, in my comparison (I need to get my twin daughters to eat veggies, I have them both from the library), are even close to one another. Sometimes celebrity bias can work against them as well =/

[mythoughtsr]

I''ve been hiding veggies in my kids meals for years. Like either of the cookbooks had any new ideas. People have NOTHING else better to do with their time. I''m at treatanysoldier.com looking at a package to send a soldier in need and the breast cancer site clicking to help get a woman a mammogram. Oprah? Puleeze, boring. The shoes? Stuck up gifting between boring people. I only need one pair of shoes to keep my feet warm.

[previn2]

As far as Mr. Seinfeld giving all those pairs of shoes to Oprah, -it''s HIS money. Also, who''s to say how much he may or may not donate to charity anyway? Oprah doesn''t have to KEEP them. They''re HERS to do with as she pleases!

[cricketmk3]

Like Oprah needs more shoes! Surely Seinfeld could have found a more useful way to spend his money. The book issue doesn''t matter one way or another to me. I won''t be buying either book. I''m not inclined to "hide" food in other food.

[whatsup49]

just goes to show you, it''s who you are (married to a "star") and who you know (oprah). If jessica seinfeld was not married to jerry, chances are she wouldn''t have been on oprah

[steyce]

Tired of the rich and famous getting by with so much.
Have you heard how much the 21 shoes cost???? unbelievable until I understood how deceptive the Oprah show was in getting Jessica on instead of a "normal" person.
I am so over Oprah.
Have been for a few years.

[rosevk]

most times celebrity works in their favor, however, I can''t believe any one would think Jessica Seinfeld is so desperate she would have to take someone elses idea and make it her own. . .this just tells me two good Mother''s want their children to eat well the only thing is one Mother is a celebrity and the other is not. We have the choice to buy which ever book we want, I would hope the purpose of the book is for the good of all children not who makes the most money!

[drbehavior-2009]

If the controversy didn''t involve Jessica Seinfeld with Oprah somewhere in the mix of this mess there''d be a huge and deserved law suit going on. Plagiarism is simply that no matter who does it and the fact that Lapines book was ''pitched'', ironically, to the same publisher that ultimately published Seinfeld''s book is mighty suspicious. I think it ought to be looked into more thoroughly or who knows who will steal from whom next.