10 Products Unexpectedly Banned in Different Countries

Before traveling to another country, it is advisable to study the local cuisine and laws so as not to be surprised when you are told that your favorite food is prohibited in that nation. Any sweets, soft drinks and even harmless vegetables and fruits can be found in the list of prohibited products in different cultures. However, everything has a logical explanation.

O awesome.club took a gastronomic trip around the world to talk about the most unexpected bans in different countries.

The 2016 Swedish court ruled that candy maker Mars could no longer sell and advertise merchandise under the M&M’s brand in the country. The reason is that M&M’s logo looks particularly similar to an existing one of a popular Swedish chocolate called Marabou, which has been produced in the country since the 1960s.

Soft drinks produced in the United States, such as Mountain Dew, are banned in Europe due to a specific composition. On the official website of the producer, it is stated that in the European Union there are different rules on which elements can or cannot enter the composition of products. In particular, high fructose corn syrup, which is used as one of the drink’s ingredients in the US, is banned in some European countries.

Poppy seeds are used as a spice in many cultures. However, in Singapore they are classified as a “prohibited product” and their importation into the country is not allowed.

There are currently only two countries where Coca-Cola cannot be bought or sold, at least not officially: Cuba and North Korea, which are under a long-term trade embargo by the United States (Cuba since 1962 and North Korea since 1950).

Currently, India is considered one of the biggest international trading players. Furthermore, it is the only country on the entire planet where, at McDonald’s, you will not be able to buy a hamburger with beef or pork, particularly the well-known “Big Mac”. In that country, the menu of fast food restaurants sells “Hindu hamburgers”, which are 100% vegetarian. For example, the “McAloo Tikk” burger is a type of meatball with potatoes, red onion, tomatoes and a special vegetable sauce.

If you order a simple “hamburger” at McDonald’s restaurants in Muslim countries, you will baffle the cashier. The issue is that in the Middle East, Malaysia and Indonesia, fast food restaurants offer “beefburger” instead of “hamburger”, in order to ensure that no pork is found in that dish. Although in the rest of the world hamburgers are made mainly of beef, only in Muslim countries have they changed the name and packaging of the product, but the taste remains the same.

Another religious prohibition against a rather innocuous product, lettuce, exists in northern Iraq and is linked to Yazidi beliefs. Its taboo on the consumption of this product can be explained by the fact that its local name is “khas”, which coincides with the term that the Yazidis use to designate their saints.

Vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower, while not taboo, must be excluded from the Jewish diet because of the high likelihood of insects or worms in these products. For a similar reason, it is recommended not to eat blackberries and raspberries, as these berries cannot always be cleaned carefully without damaging them.

Among Somalis, in a large number of tribes there is a restriction on the consumption of fish. It is not even allowed to marry people from other clans who eat it. The taboo about consuming seafood is common among many pastoralists and farmers (and even some coastal peoples) who inhabit parts of southeastern Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya and northern Tanzania.

Buddhist cuisine in China traditionally excludes garlic from all its dishes, as beliefs establish that its consumption stimulates the “lower instincts” of human beings.

What product restrictions in other countries have you heard about or faced when traveling?