The Weirdest Food Bans in History

Jun 3

From Forbidden Ketchup to Illegal Cheese, A Culinary Tour of the World’s Strangest Bites

History has a strange habit of putting food on trial.
In courtrooms, in classrooms, in hushed legislation passed behind polished doors, humanity has repeatedly decided that certain ingredients, dishes, and drinks are simply…too dangerous, too unruly, too impure to be allowed.

Not because they were poisonous.
But because they were powerful.
Because they stirred, disturbed, intoxicated, or reminded people too much of freedom, tradition, rebellion, or the body itself.

So this is not just a list of foods that were banned.
This is a love letter to human absurdity.
To what we fear.
To what we crave.
And to how governments across time have tried to put the lid back on Pandora’s lunchbox.

Let’s begin.

1. Absinthe: The Spirit That Made Artists Hallucinate (Or So They Said)

Banned: Multiple countries from 1910 to 2005

Absinthe wasn’t just a drink.
It was a ritual. A rebellion. A whisper of madness in a glass the color of envy.

In the bohemian corners of 19th-century France and Switzerland, poets, painters, and dreamers fell in love with this emerald spirit…distilled from wormwood, anise, and fennel. It didn’t just make you drunk. It made you see.

Or so they said.

Rumors swirled that absinthe caused hallucinations, seizures, even murder. In 1905, a Swiss man named Jean Lanfray killed his family after drinking absinthe, along with six glasses of wine, a coffee laced with brandy, and crème de menthe.

Guess which drink got blamed.

Absinthe was banned across Europe and the U.S., labeled as a psychoactive menace. But decades later, scientists found that it was no more dangerous than other high-proof alcohols.

The green fairy hadn’t lied.
But maybe we had.

2. Raw Milk: Illegal in More U.S. States Than You’d Think

Banned: In many U.S. states (still partially banned today)

To some, raw milk is farm-fresh gold: unpasteurized, rich, alive with bacteria that nourish the gut. To others, it’s a biohazard in a bottle.

Pasteurization, invented in the 19th century, helped eliminate diseases like tuberculosis and brucellosis that could be transmitted through milk. But modern raw milk advocates argue that industrial pasteurization also strips milk of beneficial enzymes and probiotics.

The FDA says nope.
Raw milk sales are banned in many states and heavily restricted in others. In some cases, farmers have resorted to labeling their cows as "pets" to legally distribute it.

Drinking it has become a quiet act of culinary resistance.

3. Ketchup: Forbidden in French School Cafeterias

Banned: France, 2011 (in school meals only)

In 2011, France declared war.
Not on another country.
But on ketchup.

Specifically, ketchup in school cafeterias.
The reason? Preservation of French cuisine.

Under new rules, students could only have ketchup with French fries, and only on designated days. The fear wasn’t about health, but heritage. Officials worried that ketchup was drowning the taste of traditional French dishes in sweet, tangy American-ness.

It was a symbolic ban.
A cultural moat.

Because sometimes, even condiments can be colonizers.

4. Margarine: Colored Yellow? That’s Illegal

Banned: Multiple U.S. states, late 1800s to mid-1900s

In the 1800s, margarine was created as a cheap butter substitute. Dairy farmers, predictably, hated it.

So they lobbied to outlaw it.

Many U.S. states responded by banning the sale of margarine colored yellow (to resemble butter). Some required it to be dyed pink so no one could mistake it. In Wisconsin, you needed a license just to buy it.

In Canada, the ban on yellow margarine lasted until 2008.

Imagine needing government permission to make toast.

5. Kinder Eggs: Contraband Candy in America

Banned: U.S., until 2017

For decades, Kinder Surprise Eggs (those beloved chocolate orbs with tiny toys hidden inside) were illegal in the United States.

The reason? A 1938 FDA law prohibits embedding “non-nutritive objects” inside food. You weren’t allowed to hide joy in a snack.

It wasn’t about nutrition. It was about choking hazards.

Still, generations of American kids smuggled them home from Europe like sugary contraband.

In 2017, a version of the Kinder Egg with a separate toy compartment was finally allowed.

6. Foie Gras: A Delicacy Under Fire

Banned: California (off and on), India, NYC attempts

Foie gras (made by force-feeding ducks or geese until their livers swell into buttery indulgence) is either a delicacy or a cruelty, depending on who you ask.

Animal rights groups have long opposed the practice. California banned it in 2004, un-banned it after lawsuits, then partially banned it again.

India has banned foie gras entirely. New York City almost did.

The debate is not just about food. It’s about ethics. And how far we’re willing to go for flavor.

7. Blue Cheese: Too Funky for Japan

Banned: Japan, intermittently

Japan, known for its precise food regulations, has a long history of banning imported cheeses…especially the stinky ones.

Blue cheese, with its veins of mold and unapologetic aroma, has often found itself on the wrong side of import laws. Even today, certain unpasteurized cheeses are forbidden due to safety concerns.

To the Japanese palate, this isn’t cheese.
It’s chaos.

8. Cinnamon Buns: Banned in Danish Bakeries (Sort Of)

Banned: Denmark, 2013 (briefly)

In 2013, Denmark began enforcing strict EU regulations on coumarin…a naturally occurring compound found in cinnamon that can be toxic in high doses.

The result? Danish cinnamon buns (kanelsnegle), a national treasure, were briefly pulled from shelves.

Bakers protested. The public panicked. Cinnamon rolled back in with slightly altered recipes.

Turns out, bureaucracy even tastes cinnamon.

9. Horse Meat: Taboo, Then Banned

Banned: Various periods in U.S., UK, and EU

Horse meat has always stirred moral tension. In the U.S., it’s banned for human consumption. In the UK, it’s taboo. In much of Europe, it’s legal, but frowned upon.

In 2013, the “horse meat scandal” erupted when beef products across Europe were found to contain hidden horse meat.

For many, it wasn’t the meat…it was the betrayal.

The label said cow.
The truth said something else.

10. Haggis: Banned from the U.S. Since 1971

Banned: U.S.

Haggis (Scotland’s national dish made of sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs) has been banned in the U.S. since 1971 due to concerns over sheep lung consumption.

Yes, lungs.

You can buy black pudding. You can eat foie gras. But sheep lung? Absolutely not.

The ban has frustrated Scottish expats for decades, especially around Burns Night, when haggis is traditionally served with poetry and whisky.

Freedom is complicated.

11. Fugu: The Deadly Delicacy

Banned: Restricted worldwide

Fugu, or pufferfish, contains tetrodotoxin…a poison 1,200 times more toxic than cyanide. Just one fish can kill up to 30 people.

Yet in Japan, chefs train for years to prepare it. It’s not illegal there, but tightly controlled.

In the U.S., it’s banned except from licensed restaurants. In Europe, it’s largely forbidden.

To eat fugu is to flirt with mortality.

Sometimes the plate is a dare.

12. Samosas: Banned by Islamic Militants

Banned: Somalia, 2011

In 2011, the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab banned samosas.

Their reason? The triangular shape was “too Christian,” allegedly resembling the Holy Trinity.

Never mind that samosas have roots in Persian, Indian, and African cuisines. Never mind that shape doesn’t equal religion.

It was culinary extremism, pure and strange.

A food so delicious, it offended ideology.

13. Chewing Gum: Mostly Banned in Singapore

Banned: Singapore, since 1992

Singapore is famously clean, and famously strict.

In 1992, the country banned chewing gum entirely, citing public nuisance and vandalism (people sticking it under subway seats, on elevators, in keyholes).

The ban was partially lifted in 2004 to allow therapeutic gum.

But Wrigley still makes people nervous.

14. Olestra: The Fat That Caused... “Anal Leakage”

Banned: UK, Canada; restricted U.S.

Olestra, a fat substitute used in products like Wow! Chips, was banned or restricted after widespread reports of gastrointestinal distress.

Yes, the infamous side effect was called "anal leakage."

Enough said.

Sometimes, science pushes a little too hard.

15. Black Pudding: Banned from U.S. Flights

Banned: TSA/FAA restrictions

Black pudding (a savory blood sausage beloved in parts of the UK and Ireland) was banned from being brought into the U.S. due to strict food safety rules.

Immigrants and travelers often tried to smuggle it in frozen, hidden in luggage.

One woman in Newark reportedly declared her "blood cake" as a skincare item.

People will do anything for home.

Food bans are rarely just about food.

They’re about culture. Identity. Fear. Power. Taste.
What we’re allowed to crave.
What we’re told is too dangerous to touch.

Some bans make sense.
Others read like satire.

But together, they form a strange, delicious, and occasionally hilarious map of how humans try to control what can’t be tamed:

Appetite.