The most notorious things that are banned in America! From plastic-toy-packed chocolates to easy-to-swallow magnets
#7 Stinky Cheese Americans love dairy, especially their cheese. In 2015, a study from the United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA, revealed the average American eats 34 pounds of cheese per year! With a population of more than 325 million people in the country, that’s a lot of cheese dairy producers have to provide. But even with such a high demand, there are certain dairy delights that fall short of American standards. European cheeses sometimes use processes that are shunned in the United States. Some of the States-banned cheeses include those which rely on insects to produce. One type called mimolette [mihm-oh-lett] utilizes cheese mites to add another layer of flavor into the cheese as they burrow through the rounded block. Even worse, the casu marzu [kuh-soo mahr-zoo] cheese serves as a hatchery for fly larva that consume the stinking cheese while leaving behind a sugary, fatty, protein-packed excretion that fans of the dank dairy dish find to provide an exquisite flavor. If you found that example stomach churning, don’t worry, these cheeses won’t show up at the local grocery anytime soon as they remain banned from crossing U.S. borders.
#6 Kinder Eggs With a number of hazards in the public marketplace ranging from faulty electronics or recalled vehicles to unapproved medications, the first entry on this list comes from something a bit more...delicious. Made by Italian candy company Ferrero, the Kinder Surprise is a beloved egg-shaped treat across Europe known for its delicious milk chocolate flavor and plastic toys hidden within. But the collectible plastic trinkets, which prove popular with children and adults alike, have actually been a cause of concern in the United States and have gotten the candy-toy hybrid banned. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 has continuously blocked the Kinder Surprise from reaching the United States since the candy’s debut in 1974. The act essentially bans the sale of any confectionary food item with an embedded non-nutrient, inedible object that doesn’t serve a function for consumption. In short, the candy served as a potential choking hazard in its classic form. Lucky for Americans, though, in 2017, the Ferrero company introduced a new item: the Kinder Joy. This updated version of the Kinder classic was packaged in a way to fully separate half of the egg, made of candy and a creamy pudding, from the half containing a toy. The original chocolate egg surprise might not ever make it to the States, but in the meantime, the Kinder Joy will have to do.
