And of course some foods are banned in the US but not Europe.
Do you have any examples? (Genuinely interested)
Beluga caviar
What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?
61–70 of 130 posts
Re: What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would love to if the US had the same food quality laws that European countries have. By HN standards, I'm a right wing nutcase and am in favor of as small a government as we can stand, but our food is killing us. Bread has sugar in it. If you want bread without sugar in it, you must either pay more for the organic stuff or make it yourself. If you want bread without any additives or preservatives at all, you must b…
"Bread with sugar in it" isn't banned in Europe.
Indeed. It's everywhere.
Re: What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?
#63Anytime we talk about "banning" something I prefer a very conservative approach (conservative as in let's not ban things unless we are really sure). We are constantly learning new things that upend what we used to accept as science regarding nutrition and how the human body works. I think we do ourselves a disservice sometimes by banning things that we don't understand (and sometimes we think we understand but really…
>Anytime we talk about "banning" something I prefer a very conservative approach (conservative as in let's not ban things unless we are really sure). We are constantly learning new things that upend what we used to accept as science regarding nutrition and how the human body works. I think we do ourselves a disservice sometimes by banning things that we don't understand (and sometimes we think we understand but reall…
If you aren't sure, then I don't think I get the logic on the default being "okay, feed it to your kids!".
Um. There's kind of a big difference between requiring something and just not forbidding it.
Re: What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?
#64Anytime we talk about "banning" something I prefer a very conservative approach (conservative as in let's not ban things unless we are really sure). We are constantly learning new things that upend what we used to accept as science regarding nutrition and how the human body works. I think we do ourselves a disservice sometimes by banning things that we don't understand (and sometimes we think we understand but really…
Why is it a disservice to demand we are sure something won't harm us before we build and industry around it? Can you name any specific items that you feel it was a disservice to ban, and say why?
The nature of bans makes it pretty difficult to specifically name items that I feel banning them was a disservice :-)
But here's an example: Cannabis. Why? There's now tremendous evidence that the ban was misguided, and that there are very real medicinal properties that benefit the human body and help control inflammation. When banning it (and making it a schedule 1 substance) research was severely hampered and in many cases halted.
Re: What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?
#65And of course some foods are banned in the US but not Europe.
Do you have any examples? (Genuinely interested)
In the US, unwashed eggs aren't allowed. In the EU, it's the other way around; eggs must be unwashed.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2012/10/25/why-am...
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-europeans-dont-refrigera...
Re: What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Haggis, is one example. They don't like the sheep lung used in it, apparently.
Haggis is not illegal in the US. It's illegal to import it eg from the UK. You can make and sell haggis domestically in the US.
> You can make and sell haggis domestically in the US
I don't know if you're an expert in Haggis, so maybe you know more than me, but this FAQ says otherwise.
http://www.scottishhaggis.com/index.php/frequently-asked-que...
> the USDA does not allow sheep lungs to be used in manufacture
Re: What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?
#67Anytime we talk about "banning" something I prefer a very conservative approach (conservative as in let's not ban things unless we are really sure). We are constantly learning new things that upend what we used to accept as science regarding nutrition and how the human body works. I think we do ourselves a disservice sometimes by banning things that we don't understand (and sometimes we think we understand but really…
How is it a disservice?
Do you think the Cannabis ban was a disservice?
Re: What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have any examples? (Genuinely interested)
Mustard oil.
That's not completely true. While it is banned for consumption, Indian cooking and more recently, American cooking, has begun using mustard oil[1].
Edit: the linked article mentions that research into the health risks of mustard oil has not been conclusive.
[1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/02/dining/american-chefs-dis...
Re: What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?
#69As a European I'm interested in knowing what most Americans thinks about this (their food has additives that is forbidden in Europe). Is there a feeling of Europeans being too cautious or would you like to have the same rules?
If the bans are supported by reproducible, peer-reviewed science, then I obviously support them. But if the ban is a result of “possibility” as opposed to “proven,” then I feel that food bans have a way of becoming less about public health and more about politics. Grilled meat has carcinogens, but to actually get cancer from grilled meat, one would have to eat a hundred pounds a day (or some absurd equivalent.) I realize that grilled meat isn’t banned, but my point is, any substance can be harmful in large enough quantities and concentrations, but Europe bans some things that would have to be consumed in unlikely quantities before they’d be “harmful.”
There is a lot of “people have more allergies/obsessing/whatever than the old days,” and the assumption is that it’s because of the food, without actual science proving that’s the case; it’s just a hypothesis that doesn’t necessarily account for thousands of other variables.
People have more allergies now than they used to. Could that not be caused by more electromagnetic radiation? More TV watching? Typing more?
Re: What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have any examples? (Genuinely interested)
Kinder chocolate eggs, because they have toys that are surrounded by food. The toy is at risk of being eaten.
So in the US they ban things based on the expected stupidity of people swallowing the entire egg, and in the EU they ban based on carcinogenic additives that increase short term profit whose negative effects won't be seen for years? Seems appropriate.