Forbidden Foods

The U.S. has banned mimolette, a cheese from Lille made with mites. While French cheese may still be the Holy Grail for many cheese lovers, getting hold of it can be tricky, thanks to global food regulations. In April the U.S. puat a blockade on mimolette, the brightly colored orange cheese that traditionally hails from Lille. To refine the flavour of the cheese, mites are deliberately introduced, a practice that up until now has not caused a problem. The FDA has now decided, in their infinite wisdom, that the tiny organisms could cause allergic reactions and halted the sale of Mimolette, outraging French producers and importers of the cheese in the U.S. Many other foods are either banned or so expensive to import that they are kept out of the market. Roquefort cheese was banned in Australia and New Zealand until 2005. In America, the Bush Administration placed a 300% duty on the cheese, essentially keeping it out of the American market. Foie gras has been banned in California since 2012, partly due to campaigns from activists and lobbyists. Chefs and producers alike have protested the state's move to keep the goose liver delicacy from being served, but to no avail. While the import and sale of foie gras is legal Europe, force feeding animals for non medical purposes is banned in a number of European countries, including the UK and Norway. Casu marzu was banned until recently by the EU. This traditional Sardinian sheep's milk cheese containing live insect larvae was felt to have food and hygiene inadequacies, but the ban was lifted on the grounds tha Casu marzu is a tradtiional food made using traditional methods. Other banned foods include the following: Haggis has been banned in the US since 1971 because of the use of sheep's lung. Why this is a health issue, I do not know. Marmite, a savoury spread is restricted because it is fortified with added vitamins. It is banned in Denmark, but not in the US. Absinthe has been banned in the US since 1912. The ban was sort of lifted a few years ago, the Absinthe sold here does not contain wormwood, and the hallucinogenic properties of wormwood is why people drink it. Oil of Sassafrass, which used to be used in root beer (among other things), is banned because it was found to cause cancer in lab rats. Kinder eggs from Germany have been banned. It's a chocolate egg with a hollow center containing a little toy, and the toy was seen as a choking hazard, so the US Consumer Product Saftey Commission says they're not safe for kids. Four Loko has been banned because the mix of alcohol and caffeine is so dangerous. It's really just an energy drink. Maybe the FDA should look at some of high caffeine energy drinks that they do allow. Unpasturized milk and raw milk are also banned. Although I don't know for sure, I have a feeling there is a lot of politics in what the FDA allows and what they don't allow. I know for a fact that there are several dog food products that have killed many pets, yet the FDA is still "looking into" the product. Are they really protecting us? How does a cheese that was banned for years, like roquefort, get the banned lifted? It's the same cheese! I don't want to even get started on the import of meat and fish from other countries and how that is regulated. Is the FDA keeping Americans safe from harmful foods (I assume that is their goal) or are they controlling the import of global products for some other reason? Maybe you can figure it out.