Forbidden food… We’ve compiled a list of some illegal foods from around the world, and explain why they are illegal.

Foie Gras

Foie Gras (pictured on the right) is duck or goose liver. But the food itself isn’t illegal, it’s the way it’s prepared. A goose or duck is force fed corn grain until it’s liver is 10 times the size of normal. Its flavor is described as rich, buttery, and delicate, unlike that of a regular duck or goose liver. It’s currently illegal in Chicago, San Diego, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Norway and Denmark.

Mangosteen

This particular food is usually eaten as a delicacy dessert. It is llegal in the US because of what it might contain. The Asian fruit fly.

The fruit fly is a fruit crop pest and is a serious economic threat to soft summer fruit; i.e., cherries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, grapes, and others. This has lead to the banning of the mangosteen from being imported to the United States

Ortolan Bunting

The Ortolan is a small songbird, similar in size to a finch or a sparrow. It is considered a rare delicacy in France, where the French have consumed so many, that the Ortolan population is now in decline.

The bird is first captured, blinded, then force fed figs and oats till it’s fattened up. It’s then drowned alive in brandy, roasted and consumed in one bite. It’s almost ritualistic. Because of the population decline, the bird is now protected in most European countries.





Casu Marzu

A Sardonian food, the word itself means ‘rotten cheese’. And that’s exactly what it is. This cheese is made by injecting Pecorino cheese with half-inch maggot larvae that digest the cheese. Casu Marzu then goes beyond typical fermentation to a stage most would consider decomposition, brought about by the digestion of the maggots. The maggots are very resistant to human stomach acid and can pass through the stomach alive, taking up residency for some period of time in the intestines and have been known to bore through, into organs. Due to the danger, the European Union has banned this practice.

Fugu – Pufferfish

Also known as the pufferfish. The liver of the pufferfish contains an extremely potent and lethal neurotoxin. It simply paralyzes you, but it doesn’t paralyze just motor-skills. It paralyzes your heart, breathing and other functions. It doesn’t cross the blood-brain barrier, so you remain completely awake and alert while this is happening. There is no known antidote or cure.

Fugu chefs must go through 2-3 years of training to be certified to serve the fish and only seventeen restaurants in the United States are licensed to serve fugu. Twelve of them are in New York. The fish first have to be prepared and frozen in Japan, then flown to the US. Fugu remains illegal in Europe.





