Top 10 Foods That Are Banned In The US

6. Ortolan

The ortolan is a bird in the bunting family of Emberizidae. It is a tiny songbird that weighs less than an ounce. This bird was once a controversial meal in France and is cooked for eight minutes and served with the head attached. The bird is meant to be eaten whole, including the head and bones.

Killing and selling the ortolan was banned in France in the 1990s, but poachers continued to catch the small bunting and sell it to local restaurants. France’s League for the Protection of Birds claimed that the ortolan population dropped 30 percent even after the ban, forcing the government to enact more stringent enforcement in 2007.

The killing of the rare bird is less controversial than the barbaric way in which it is killed. These birds are trapped during their migratory season and kept in covered cages. The ortolan eats more at night, so the covering the cages will encourage them to gorge on grain, to the point where their bodies double in size. It is said that ancient emperors would pluck out the birds’ eyes, tricking them to thinking it was night so that they would eat more. The ortolans are ultimately thrown alive into a vat of Armagnac, which both drowns and marinates them.

France now strictly enforces the ban on killing ortolans. The killing, cooking, or smuggling of the bird anywhere in the European Union or the United States is currently a crime.
 

5. Casu Marzu

Casu marzu, translated into English, means “rotten cheese,” and if the rotten part isn’t already bad enough, it’s also known as “maggot cheese.” This Sardinian cheese is typically soaked in brine, smoked, and left to ripen in a cheese cellar. Then cheese makers set it outside uncovered, allowing cheesing flies to lay eggs inside it.

The eggs hatch into maggots, which start feeding on the cheese. They produce enzymes that promote fermentation and cause fats within the cheese to decompose. The cheese becomes supersoft and leaves a burn on the tongue when eaten. Local Sardinians say the cheese is only good when the maggots are still moving. If the maggots are dead, then the cheese has gone bad and is too toxic for consumption.

Casu marzu is not in compliance with European Union hygienic standards and has been declared illegal. It is also illegal in the United States because it is unpasteurized and has more than six mites per square inch. (The microscopic bugs live on the surface of aged cheese.)

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