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The School Newspaper of Placer High School

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The School Newspaper of Placer High School

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Illegal foods in the US

People around the world eat all different types of food; due to their culture or to please the different satisfactions of their taste buds. Some illegal foods in the U.S are illegal for health reasons; others are illegal for the survival of a species, or even because of animal cruelty. Some may be delicious or downright nasty. Some foods in the U.S. that are illegal are not illegal in other countries.
The United States has at least 14 illegal foods, and unpasteurized cheese is one of them. When people think about unpasteurized cheese they automatically react with a look of disgust. However, unpasteurized cheese is said to be a delicacy for many countries. The world’s greatest cheeses have shared one thing: they are made with raw, unpasteurized milk. The reason why it’s illegal is because of the bacteria in raw, unpasteurized milk. According to federal law, raw milk cannot be transported across state lines with the purpose of human consumption.
Senior Haley Godman said, “I dipped my finger in raw milk before just to taste it, and it tasted funny nothing like regular milk.”
Twenty-one states ban the sale of raw milk. The Food and Drug Administration believes that unpasteurized cheeses are unsafe, and they have made unpasteurized cheese illegal due to the risk of infectious disease outbreak. Some bacterial infections can kill and for this reason, the Administration believes that it is better to be safe than sorry.
Another food group that is illegal in America is horse meat. Many people would not eat horse meat but in some parts of Europe horse meat is eaten occasionally. A law was passed in Texas on September 8, 2006 saying that killing horses for human consumption was an illegal practice in the United States. This is because horses, unlike cows and pigs, are not raised for meat, and should be given a more suitable end to their life. But the big debate around the U.S. is that if we can eat cow, why not horse?
Senior Kristin Close said, “Horses are more valuable than cows; people actually ride them. I mean people love their cows, but they raise them to be fat for eating purposes.”
Consuming horse meat is technically legal in most states; however, slaughtering horses for human consumption is banned in the U.S. But even among horse lovers, there are some who oppose the ban on horse slaughter.
Another food product that is illegal is Wild Beluga caviar. Wild Beluga caviar, which comes from the wild Beluga sturgeon, was once a very popular delicacy for Americans. Human consumption of this expensive fish egg led to dangerously low numbers of the eggs which led them to become illegal to eat. They had to pass this law to save the species of the wild Beluga fish. In 2005, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service banned the caviar.
There are many more illegal foods, such as Absinthe, a highly alcoholic drink that is derived from herbs, including wormwood. It fell under a strict ban as it was thought to be an addictive hallucinogen.
Another is Ackee, a pear-shaped fruit, the national fruit of Jamaica, actually contains toxins that can hold back the body’s ability to release an extra supply of glucose, reducing the blood sugar level and potentially leading to death. This is banned in the U.S. as well.
Also Sassafras oil, it comes from the dried tree bark of the Sassafras tree. It was once a popular ingredient in tea and Rootbeer. It was banned due to evidence of safrole, a potential carcinogen.
Foie Gras, Chilean Sea bass, mangosteens, sea turtles, moonshine, Japanese Puffer Fish, Redfish, shark fins, and Ortolan are all under the illegal food group in the United States as well. America has many silly foods that can be nasty or delicious. A suggestion is to try these illegal foods when traveling abroad in the other countries.

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