In the United States of America, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Consumer Products Safety Commission are bodies with the responsibility of protecting public health by ensuring the safety of products being consumed by human beings. No matter how popular a food might be, some have been deemed dangerous or unfit for consumption and are banned in the United States. You may have enjoyed them in the past and they might have been your favorites but they are no longer available. Here are five of these foods.

1. Raw Milk

Raw, unpasteurized milk was consumed and enjoyed by many. Unpasteurized milk can contain harmful bacteria such as Listeria, Salmonella and E.coli. Other bacteria can cause food borne illnesses that lead to food poisoning. These dangerous bacteria can seriously affect people’s health, particularly the elderly, persons with compromised immune systems and pregnant women. The process of pasteurization kills harmful bacteria, making pasteurized milk the safer option. Several states in the United States prohibit the sale of raw milk.   

2. Ackee Fruit

Ackee fruit is popular in Jamaica and West Africa; however, the FDA has banned its importation into the USA. While it is delicious and enjoyed by many when ripe, the danger is in consuming unripe ackee. Ackee fruit that is unripe contains high amounts of hypoglycin A which is a toxin that affects the body’s ability to produce blood glucose which leads to hypoglycemia. Consuming unripe ackee can also cause Jamaican vomiting sickness (JVS) which is characterized by uncontrollable vomiting, seizures and loss of consciousness. Every year, there are people who do not survive after eating unripe ackee fruit.

3. Lazy Cakes

Lazy Larry brownies formerly known as Lazy Cakes is a brownie filled with 7.8 milligrams of melatonin. It is sometimes called a relaxation brownie because melatonin is a substance taken by persons who have difficulty sleeping and in small doses helps regulate sleep. The FDA expressed to the company that the additive is unsafe for consumption. To children, it can be dangerous as they should not consume more that 0.3 milligrams of melatonin. In 2011, the state of Arkansas banned these brownies.

4. Imported Haggis

Haggis is a delicious Scottish dish made from the meat of sheep’s heart, lung and liver mixed with spices and oats and stuffed in sheep’s stomach. This dish was imported into the United States until 1971 when it was banned by the FDA because of concerns that the use of sheep’s lungs which can contain stomach acid and phlegm that may come in contact with the lungs during slaughter. The FDA found this was unsafe. This ban was not only exclusive to sheep lungs but all lung meat.

5. Mirabelle Plums

Mirabelle plum is a small, oval-shaped, dark yellow fruit originally from France. This fruit was not banned in the US for health or environmental concerns but because it has the designation of a protected origin food. This gives a specific area, in this case, France, the official rules and rights to produce this fruit. The FDA has a trade agreement with France as it relates to Mirabelle plums, to protect the French market. This fruit is a delicacy in France and is marketed to attract tourists. So if you want to have a taste of this sweet and yummy fruit, then you will definitely have to make France your next vacation destination.