9 Banned Foods That Could Land You in Hot Water

Lots of "banned foods" lists circulate online with little specific information about why a food is (or was) blocked from entering the United States. That may leave health-conscious readers wondering: Is this food dangerous for me? And is it still banned, or is that outdated information? The confusion is understandable. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tells us that restrictions and bans on food importation are handled by several government offices and can happen for a wide range of reasons. Here's the scoop on nine foods that aren't always allowed into the U.S. and why.

Ackee果实受到美国的限制FDA进口警报because if it is processed under certain conditions, it can be dangerous to your health. A toxin called hypoglycin-A can appear at high levels in unripe ackee. Once it fully ripens, that toxin drops to safer levels in some parts of the fruit, but the rind and seeds can still have more toxin than is safe to consume. In fact, it can be fatal. The FDA does have a list of fruit processors on its "Green List“已表明他们有足够的安全控制的公司在没有种子或外皮的情况下提供适当成熟的Acke，其中一些用于进口到国家的一些加工产品中使用。

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这个传统从撒丁岛是mind-blow奶酪ing: Making casu marzu involves leaving goat-milk cheese outside to decay. Once flies begin to gather, the rind is cut off to allow the flies to lay eggs in the cheese. (Yep, you read that right.) Digestive enzymes released by the resulting maggots then make the hard cheese softer, creating this uniquely Italian delicacy. According to a spokesperson for the FDA, they are "concerned about the use of maggots in the production of casu marzu because of the documented reports of flies, including the flies used to make casu marzu, causing intestinal myiasis," and thus it is detained at U.S. borders and banned from import.

Sassafras，技术上被称为“safrool”，是从根吠肠或Sassafras植物的果实的油提取物，曾经常用于根啤酒等饮料。在20世纪50年代和20世纪60年代，良性和恶性肿瘤是在大鼠发现that consumed safrole, which lead theFDA.to determined that safrole is carcinogenic and causes liver damage in animals.

Today, most commercial sassafras teas and root beers are artificially flavored, so you only have to worry about the root-beer's calories, not the damage to your liver.

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Famous for being potentially lethal, Japanese puffer fish is (surprisingly) not entirely banned. But it can contain two central nervous system toxins (tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin) that cause severe illness or even death, so the Japanese government only licenses specially trained fish cutters to process and prepare it. Puffer fish (aka blowfish) are imported into the U.S. just two or three times each year and only by the one approved importer chosen by an agreement between theFDA和日本政府。那些进口的河豚份量可能是安全的。

在美国也有国内河豚鱼，但国家Florida bans由于“持续毒性”，来自几个县的商业和休闲收获。来自大西洋中海沿海水域的北部河豚（通常是弗吉尼亚和纽约之间）可能是无毒素的。但没有常规筛查，即使是那种品种，风险也仍然存在。

Raw, unpasteurized milk used in making unpasteurized cheese may carry bacteria, including salmonella, enterotoxigenic E. coli, and listeria monocytogenes. (That being said, boy, are unpasteurized cheeses delicious!) So theFDA.requires最低60天老龄化时期，无论是安全的，不低于35华氏度，无论是在美国进口还是制造的那种奶酪都被认为是安全的。

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This delectable green vegetable — also known as water spinach and a staple of daily diets in Thailand — is unfortunately on theUSDA的联邦有害杂草名单并禁止进入美国。虽然它在技术上是安全的消费，但这种植物在河流和沼泽附近生长，并且可以妨碍自然水流并挡住其致密的生长。因此，如果您碰巧遇到它，请随时沉迷于，但您不会在各州找到许多局部种植的水菠菜。

In the 1950s and 1960s, cyclamates were used in a variety of sugar-free beverages and other low-calorie foods and sweeteners in the U.S., including Sweet-N-Low. The FDA tells us that cyclamates and their salts are currently prohibited from use in the United States due to a study in 1969 that resulted in大鼠膀胱肿瘤。该re have been petitions and new studies with different results, but the ban remains in effect here despite having been lifted in 130 countries, including the United Kingdom.

Another type of sugar substitute, whole-leaf and crude stevia extracts, is subject to an "import alert“并不允许用作甜味剂。但重要的是要注意，这些形式的甜叶菊与常用为美国甜味剂的高度纯化的脂肪醇糖苷等。所以你看到的高度精致的甜叶菊健康食品和杂货店不受FDA的限制，而不是政府限制的原始甜叶菊。

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This delicious spice, which gives Szechuan dishes their distinctive tingly heat, was banned in 1968 for agricultural reasons, according to theNew York Times。该peppercorns were thought to carry a bacterial disease that could harm citrus crops in the States.

Now for some better news: In 2005, the USDA first提升限制on imported, dried Szechuan peppercorns and then, subsequently, raw Szechuan peppers. You can find them at Asian grocery stores and add them to stir-fried dishes or mapo tofu without any worry. More a dried berry than an actual peppercorn, it can be ground or used whole.

虽然FDA在鲨鱼鳍上没有总体禁令，但由于采购和高水平的问题，有些鲨鱼产品的进口有限甲基汞。

“鲨鱼芬动”的做法，取消了鲨鱼的鳍（鲨鱼仍然活着），由总统比尔克林顿于2000年在美国水域和所有美国国旗的渔船上禁止。该立法另外，进口鲨鱼鳍不能进入美国没有相关的尸体。渔民制定了切断鳍，鲨鱼最有利可图的部分的做法，并将其余的身体留在水中，为他们的船上腾出空间来储存更多的鳍。不幸的是，在切碎后，鲨鱼经常沉入并死于窒息或被另一个捕食者食用。

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Have you tried any of the foods on our list? Let us know what you think of them in the comments below!