Fortune magazine has compiled a list of 9 “forbidden’ foods that have been banned (for some reason or another) in the US. Trans fats in NYC, foie gras in Chicago… Here’s the list:
- Trans fats
Banned in: New York City - Raw milk
Banned in: 21 states - Absinthe
Banned in: The U.S. (sort of: Absinthe is legal in the United States, contrary to popular belief, as long as the spirit’s levels of thujone – a toxic chemical present in wormwood, one of the herbs used to make absinthe – do not surpass the Food and Drug Administration’s limit of 10 parts per million.) - Foie Gras
Banned in: Chicago - Uncertified Chilean sea bass
Banned in: The U.S. - Horse meat
Banned in: California, Illinois and other states - Wild Beluga caviar
Banned in: The U.S. - Shark fins
Banned in: The U.S. - High-fructose corn syrup
On the endangered list in: San Francisco
What do you think of food bans? Some people are willing to risk breaking laws to smuggle raw milk across state lines… only to get diphtheria. Are you among them?
9 forbidden foods [Fortune Small Business] (Thanks, Stacy!)
(Photo: Unhindered By Talent )
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@bones: I challenge you to find real FOOD that has been packaged that doesn’t have HFCS. I know this because I’ve searched. It’s even in dog foods. It’s pervasive since it can be listed as a different product – like modified food starch. Only if it’s in its raw state can you be positive that there is no HFCS or other corn based product added. I don’t see having an alternative to that additive a big problem for food suppliers and increased costs. What we spend maybe on increase in food costs because of the substitution for corn would be easily saved in health concerns and doctor/medicine bills.
You can’t buy liquor-filled candies in the US. Grand Marnier filled dark chocolate is too tasty for us.
IM IN UR FOODZ, EATIN UR CORM SYRUP
@leftystrat:
Smoking is a little different, I think. There are negative externalities which bother people who don’t smoke. When I’m eating dinner at an expensive restaurant, I don’t want to also taste the cigar from the guy across the room. I agree that if there are no (or barely noticable) negative externalities, then, for the most part, government should be hands off. However, your statement, when taken to hyperbole (here, we can see that I realize that there is a logical failing with this argument – I understand this, but I believe that it is close enough to make a fair comparison) would be:
I hate pollution so I don’t pollute. However, if everyone else wants to pollute, they should feel free to do it as much as they desire.
@FerryPrincess:
Then we can buy it from someone else. It’s not a big deal. I mean, the whole point (ok, not the whole point) of NAFTA was so that we could trade corn. Mexico grows corn. We told Mexico that NAFTA would be a great thing. When they finally came around to it BAM! Tons of corn subsidies in the US. We basically stole all the corn farmers’ jobs in Mexico because of it. Do we get corn cheaper?
In a manner of speaking, yes and no. The farmers sell corn for less than would be the market price if the government wasn’t giving them crazy subsidies, but guess who’s paying that money? Tax payers.
@theora55: Really? I wasn’t aware of this restriction…is it new?
Again, you just have to live in the right ethnic neighborhood. I can find booze-filled candies in my grocery store!
For all the people wondering about Coca-cola made with cane sugar, I saw it on sale at my local Costco today. Needless to say, I was surprised.
Man is no one responsible for themselves anymore? Kids kill classmates blame vid games and music. Sex crazed teens blame lack of religion. 400 pounders dropping like flys blame hollandaise sauce. Hey heres an idea make all schools have gym every semester of every grade level.
High-fructose corn syrup
it will be real interesting when they ban coke (the pop, not the drug which will always be legal in san francisco)
I guess were about to see an invasion of coke from mexico (the pop, although they also ship us the other kind as well) since they make all thier stuff from sugar instead of HFCS
@Dervish: That lower cost was only there because of limits based on Sugar imports, specifically to encourage the use of HFCS.
@privateer: I hope you realize that ADHD is grossly over-diagnosed. I’m not saying that ADHD isn’t a real disorder, but that alot of “physicians” are too quick to declare that ADHD is the problem and then prescribe ritalin. Most parents do this without getting the opinions of other doctors.
as an alternative to soda’s with HFCS, you guys should check out dublin dr. pepper: dublindrpepper.com. It’s made in the original Dr. Pepper plant in Dublin, TX and they use sugar cane instead of HFCS. It’s a little pricey, $10 for a case of 24 and it’s $5 shipping for 2 cases, but it’s definitely delicious, and better than HFCS.
So where silly do you all think milk comes from, a sterilized jug beamed from the sky? It all comes from the same place, from a cow that poops all day, every day. That is why the teats are cleaned and the bucket is cleaned, not the milk. We own Jerseys….we do not sale but we give away what we can not use.
@theora55: Not true. Costco sells a gift pack of liquor-filled chocolates every year.
Hey, hey! Ho, ho! High-fructose corn syrup has got to go!
Regarding the list of “endangered” products, your readers should know that the proposal to tax beverages in San Francisco that contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has not been adopted.
HFCS, sugar, honey, and several fruit juices all contain the same simple sugars. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted high fructose corn syrup “Generally Recognized as Safe” status for use in food, and reaffirmed that ruling in 1996 after thorough review.
In a joint letter to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom concerning the proposed tax, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Corn Refiners Association jointly opposed the proposal and explained that HFCS and table sugar are similar in composition and that several studies have shown that the two types of sugars are metabolized similarly by the body. On its website, CSPI says that the idea that HFCS is more harmful than sugar is an “urban myth” and that there would be no health benefit whatsoever if companies switched from HFCS to sugar.
Read the CSPI press release and the letter. [www.cspinet.org]
Consumers can see the latest research and learn more at http://www.HFCSfacts.com.
Audrae Erickson
President
Corn Refiners Association
its not food, but i know that styrofoam is banned in portland (my town) and i think plastic bags are banned in seattle?
As somebody pointed out above about the nitwits behind the ban on foie gras, a food that relatively few people eat, if only the chickens sold by the bazillions of pounds in grocery stores across America had a life as good as the foie gras geese do.
My friend Andrew Gumbel reported on this for the Independent, in the UK. I linked to his piece and more info here:
[www.advicegoddess.com]
Ducks and geese are not human, and because gavage, the process of feeding the ducks would be terrible for a human, doesn’t mean ducks respond the same way.
Shark “Finning” is bad bad bad….. the shark populations have decreased by 90%. No sharks to regulate the fish populations that eat phytoplankton, and the phytoplankton start disappearing. And guess where 70% of OUR oxygen comes from…..
That’s right. By allowing the mass slaughter of sharks worldwide, FOR NOTHING MORE THAN THEIR FINS, we are killing our planet, and ourselves. This MUST stop.
It is absolutely barbaric. Shark finners drop long lines (among other methods) that can stretch 60 MILES… these lines catch all kinds of things. Turtles, fish, sharks, etc…. and the unwanted sealife are killed by the lines and cut loose. The sharks are pulled up, fins cut off, and dumped back into the ocean, WHILE STILL ALIVE, where they sink to the bottom to die.
Think about it people. Your greedy fucking IMAGE of wealth by eating shark fin soup is an atrocity against nature and ourselves.
@tempest: Kinder Surprise eggs are banned?! Crap, there goes one of my guilty pleasures…sigh.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about healthy living and treating your body like a temple and whatnot, but every once in a while I enjoy a can of cola.
Just like everything else; it’s all about moderation. Now about that aspartame…
High Fructose Corn Syrup should be obliterated from the planet and never allowed to be produced again.
It should be ranked on the same list as Trans fats so I don’t understand why San Francisco isn’t being hailed along with New York for banning Trans fats.
HFCS is bad for you. End of discussion.
@HeartBurnKid:
Oh, man, I love Hansen’s soda. It’s the only soda allowed in the house.
Check your ketchup for HFCS! We switched to the organic version of Heinz or some brand like that because all the others have HFCS. It tastes the same, but isn’t poisoning you.
oh, you opponents of HFCS are not just misguided, you are severely misinformed. since before 1980, you have consumed HFCS without your knowlege. back then, zillions of tests were performed on the daily foods you ingested by substituting HFCS for cane sugar. when taste test results returned positive, manufacturers of food products containing cane sugar switched to HFCS as fast as the HFCS market would allow. why, you ask? well, for starters, we consumers demand reasonable prices. another little cause and effect, called US govt cane sugar price supports, protects US cane sugar growers from having to compete in the world sugar market. cane sugar prices (continue to) remain artificially high in the US when compared to the world market price, while HFCS competes worldwide, hence much lower prices for HFCS users. while it is true that US govt supports corn growers, it had/has NOTHING to do with HFCS – it was all about putting (corn based) food on your tables for the past 70 years. now, that same US govt support for corn growers also helps develop corn alcohol for your hybrid fuel-using cars. corn growers are very profitable right now thanks to your US govt corn support. corn supply is not meeting demand at this time, so expect price increases at your local grocery store on those items containing sugar which one might enjoy from time to time. so, children, it depends on which spin one wants to put this HFCS issue – i only speak truthfully. oh, by the way, your body digests and converts HFCS to energy in the same manner that it digests cane sugar, so fear not that HFCS is any more detrimental to your health than cane sugar. i know this, for i am in the business, and a healthcare provider on top of that. even if HFCS was not even on the market, then (some of you) would be calling for a ban on cane sugar to reduce obesity and other healthcare risks. i suggest that we all kick our children outside to play, throw away all home computers and video games, buy a bicycle and get active (like we once were as kids).
@jethropew: You go boy!
Boylans here in the North East uses sugar and not hfcs also. I dont know if its sold in other parts of the U.S. but its becoming very popular due to the regular sugar use and not hfcs.
Watch out, geese – as of last you week, we can once again enjoy foie gras in Chicago: [www.chicagotribune.com]
@zentec: The problem with that is, to let them drink it means letting someone else SELL it. Allowing a food producer to market food that is unsafe is, well, unsafe.
Green turtle soup is banned in the US. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Services classified Chelonia mydas as a threatened species, rendering
it a federal offense to capture or otherwise kill an individual
turtle. In part due to this, the Hawaiian green turtle subpopulation
has made a remarkable comeback and is now also the subject of
eco-tourism and has become something of a state mascot.
–
http://baribob.net,