Strange but true, these ten foods are considered illegal in the United States: from Kinder eggs to foie gras to Sardinian cheese casu marzu
In the United States the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has the responsibility to ensure that the food that is purchased in restaurants and supermarkets is not harmful to consumer health. Over the years the association has therefore drawn up one list of harmful foods and therefore banned in the United States, of which both the sale and the import from abroad are considered illegal. Let's go then to discover, among American foods and other foreign specialties, ten of the foods that are not allowed in the United States, including our Sardinian cheese casu marzu.
1. Kinder Surprise Eggs
Surprisingly, it is appropriate to say, the list also includes Ovetti Kinder, one of the most popular chocolate sweets for Italian children. In fact, according to US law, edible food is the cause risk of suffocation, it cannot contain inedible products, as in this case the famous plastic egg containing the surprise. The only exception, starting in 2017, was made for the summer version of the Kinder snack, a product that presents chocolate and surprise carefully separated and also designed by Ferrero to enter the US market.
2. Casu Marzu
A little less surprising is the presence of casu marzu, the so-called Sardinian "cheese with worms", whose production and sale is currently prohibited in Italy. This cheese with the larvae, with its decidedly characteristic and slightly spicy flavor, is sometimes sold under the table in Italy, but it cannot be found in the United States
3. Sassofrass oil
This shrubby plant, typical of North America, has been known since the time of the Native Americans since its bark, once used to treat diseases such as fever and rheumatism, produces an essential oil used for soaps and for flavoring drinks. Otherwise, sassafras oil contains chemicals, including safrole, which are considered harmful and carcinogenic, and this is why the product has been banned since the 1960s.
4. Ackee fruit
Ackee is a fruit of African origin is especially loved in Jamaica, where not only is it considered the national fruit but it is also the basis of one of the most popular traditional recipes. Well, this oddly shaped fruit that resembles that of a brain more actually is extremely dangerous. If consumed unripe, in fact, it releases a toxin that can cause forms of rather serious poisoning, with symptoms such as vomiting and dehydration, and in some cases even lead to coma or death. The import of this fruit was banned by the FDA in 1973, but it is still possible to buy carefully controlled canned or frozen fruit.
5. Absinthe
This alcoholic beverage has been completely banned in the United States, while since 2007 the government has allowed its importation only as long as it does not contain the famous hallucinogenic psychoactive principle.
6. Haggis
Scottish food lovers living or traveling in the United States will certainly be disappointed to discover that haggis, one of the typical dishes in Scotland, is prohibited in the American territory. This recipe consists of a soup containing bits of various internal organs of sheep combined with oat flakes, chopped onion, lard, broth, various spices and salt, all boiled inside the animal's stomach, and although the ingredients may making a little impression, in the mother country is considered a delicacy. But making it a dish banished in America is the presence of sheep lung, considered an inedible and dangerous organ because of the possible chronic degenerative pathologies of which the animal can be affected.
7. Puffer fish
This fish, also known as "fugu"Is forbidden in almost all the US territory, as well as in many countries of the world, because if handled in the wrong way during the preparation the extremely poisonous toxin (tetrodotoxin) contained in the skin and in some organs can leak out and contaminate the dish, making it in fact so toxic that it can cause death. In Japan, fugu is a specialty, and is prepared above all in the form of sashimi.
8. Foie gras
Another traditional foreign dish, in this case a French delicacy, is forbidden in almost all the United States, or the famous goose or duck liver pate. The reason in this case is the unethical treatment of geese during preparation; these are in fact immobilized and forcedly fed through tubes, so as to make their liver size swell.
9. Unpasteurized milk
Unpasteurized raw milk it is notoriously a potentially dangerous food, since it is not subject to the process of removal of toxic microbes. Despite the microbiological risk, raw milk is sold in several countries including Italy, where it can also be purchased from vending machines, but is prohibited in the United States.
10. Bushmeat
To amaze much less, within the list of foods banned by the FDA, is the meat of animals hunted and slaughtered in Africa, including gorillas, antelopes and elephants. Importation is prohibited not only because it can lead to life-threatening diseases but because it encourages illegal trade.
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