Comedian's wife accused of plagiarism

It's food processors at dawn in the world of children's cookery as the wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld fights accusations of plagiarism over her first cookery book. Jessica Seinfeld's book 'Deceptively Delicious: Simple secrets to get your kids eating good food' sold a million copies when it was published in the States.

The book's premise is simple – and familiar to anyone with one of Annabel Karmel's books in their kitchen – showing ways to hide vegetables and other healthy ingredients in children's food.

But Seinfeld's success turned sour after an appearance on Oprah Winfrey's show when another author, Missy Chase Lapine, pointed out similarities between her book, The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals, and Seinfeld's.

The issue blew up after an appearance by Jessica's husband, funny man Jerry, on the David Letterman show. Stung by the accusations towards his wife, Jerry Seinfeld told the show: 'The books came out at the same time. So this woman says, 'I sense this could be my wacko moment.' So she comes out ... and she accuses my wife. She says, 'You stole my mushed-up carrots. You can't put mushed-up carrots in a casserole. I put mushed-up carrots in a casserole. It's vegetable plagiarism.'

Following Seinfeld's appearance on the show, Lapine filed a law suit against Jessica Seinfeld. Seinfeld's publisher commented: 'Jessica Seinfeld's work is completely and entirely original and stems from her own personal experience cooking for her own three children and husband. We all know children will see healthy food and run in the other direction. We have full confidence in the originality of Jessica's recipes. We have been involved in creating the content of this book for almost two years.'

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