• World

Global Foods You Can’t Eat In the U.S.

2 minute read

Scotland’s rural-affairs secretary Richard Lochhead visited the U.S. this week to lobby the federal government to overturn a decades-long import ban on haggis, a Scottish delicacy made of sheep’s innards, oats and suet traditionally cooked inside the animal’s stomach. Lochhead suggested the recipe could be tweaked to remove sheep’s lung, which the U.S. has outlawed in imports since 1971. Here are five other foods you can find only outside the U.S.

KINDER SURPRISE

Sold across Europe, these chocolate eggs contain a toy inside. But a 1938 federal law bans nonedible objects embedded within food products. U.S. customs seizes tens of thousands of Kinder Eggs annually.

FUGU

A Japanese delicacy, this puffer fish contains potentially lethal amounts of tetrodotoxin, which can lead to paralysis or asphyxiation. U.S. restaurants can import only a treated, toxin-free variety.

BELUGA CAVIAR

The eggs of wild beluga sturgeon were so popular that the fish became endangered. In 2005, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service banned wild beluga caviar in order to protect the species.

HORSE MEAT

The slaughter of horses in the U.S. for human consumption was banned in 2010. Federal law prohibits spending tax dollars on inspecting horse meat, effectively preventing grocery stores from selling it.

FRESH ACKEE

If unripened, the national fruit of Jamaica can cause blood-sugar lows that can lead to coma or death. Banned altogether until 2000, ackee can now be purchased canned or frozen.

More Must-Reads From TIME

Write to Naina Bajekal at naina.bajekal@time.com