There are some foods relished around the world but considered risky by the United States. All such foods have been banned in the country as a result. The reason given for the ban is that all of these foods pose the risk of food-borne illness. Some foods have been banned due to the fear that they might bring agricultural pests along with them.
Foods are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). They regulate the process of determining which foods are safe. Here, we’ve given a list of foods that are generally considered illegal in the United States. Some of them are only banned in certain states of the country.
1. Horse meat
Any type of meat must be inspected for human consumption under the Federal Meat Inspection Act. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is a service of the USDA. Since 2006, it is not allowed to fund the inspection of the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Since the inspection can’t happen, the slaughter can’t take place either.
The ban on horse slaughter for meat has thus become an annual debate in the Congress. Many are supporting a permanent ban on the slaughter, including the Humane Society of the United States. Some like the American Veterinary Medical Association don’t support the ban.
2. Gooseberries
The ban on gooseberries applies to the people living in the north-eastern section of the United States. New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, and a few other states have maintained the ban. These states have banned gooseberry and black currant as some species abet a tree-killing disease.
It is known as ‘white pine blister rust’. The north-eastern part of the country is fond of its white pines. It is due to this reason the residents want the ban to remain in force.
3. Mechanically separated (MS) beef
There’s no place in the United States where you can find mechanically separated beef. It can contain Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, which is better known as ‘mad cow disease’. MS beef is a meat product that’s in the form of a paste. It is made when meat is forced through a sieve under tremendous pressure. This separates meat tissue from the bone, but the FSIS deemed this process as unsafe.
4. Sassafras
The name sounds funny, but it’s dangerous as food. Sassafras has oils that have now been described as carcinogens. These oils were once used for flavoring all sorts of delicacies and beverages. They were even used for treating eye inflammation. It was due to its connection with cancer that sassafras was prohibited for human consumption. This was enforced by the FDA in 1960 and the ban continues even to this day.
5. Unpasteurised milk
Pasteurization is a process, in which, milk is heated to kill illness-causing bacteria. They are a cause for tuberculosis, typhoid fever, listeriosis, and several other diseases. Despite the presence of this process, many people prefer to drink milk in its raw form. This has forced many states to make it illegal to sell milk and other dairy products without pasteurization. Other states allow the selling of raw milk only on farms.
