I realize this does not answer your question, but I would like to suggest an improvement to the way in which you populate the @toppings array. The following code:

• Eliminates warnings of the type "Scalar value @topping[0] better written as $topping[0]" when you use warnings;
• Eliminates compiler errors of the type "Bareword "Cheese" not allowed while "strict subs" in use" when you use strict;
• Replaces N scalar variables with 1 hash. In your case, N=3; but N would grow as you add onions, mushrooms, etc. $cheese, $pepperoni and $sausage are replaced by %types.
• Reduces the number of lines of code by about 50% as N grows.

my %types;
for (@fields) {
    $types{Cheese}++     if /cheese/i;
    $types{Pepperoni}++  if /pepperoni/i;
    $types{Sausage}++    if /sausage/i;
}
my @toppings = sort keys %types;
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