Even if you're pretty healthy in regards to your diet, we can almost guarantee you've
eaten something in the past week that would be banned in other countries.
So should you start rethinking some of your life choices?
Here are common U.S. foods that are completely illegal in other countries.
"We're outta milk.”
It might sound like the name of a local TV station, but rBGH stands for recombinant bovine
growth hormone.
Milk and other dairy products with rBGH are banned in Europe and Canada.
But ever since 1993, rBGH has been approved in the U.S. by the FDA.
"Are you kidding me?"
This particular growth hormone was developed by Monsanto to increase milk output from cows.
In order to avoid consuming dairy with rBGH, it's best to go organic.
And fortunately, according to the American Cancer Society, cows are now less frequently
exposed to the hormone and even the country's largest grocery store chains - including Walmart
- are refusing to sell dairy that contains rBGH.
"If they wanna get fresh, nutritious, wholesome milk grown and raised from our farm, they
can go to our local Walmart.”
If you're a '90s kid you probably remember Nickelodeon's Kenan and Kel and how much Kel
loved orange soda.
"I need orange soda in my life.
If I don't have orange soda, I can't live!”
But what both you and Kel might not have realized, is that you're drinking a little bit of flame
retardant with every citrus-y sip.
Brominated vegetable oil, or B.V.O., has been approved by the FDA for use in soft drinks
in "safe quantities" since 1977 - yet it's banned in European Union countries and in
Japan.
B.V.O. acts sort of like a mixing agent to blend citrus flavors.
But after a highly successful 2012 Change.org petition put an end to Gatorade's use of BVO,
other major beverage brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi began to phase out the use of BVO
in their citrus soft drinks a few years later.
And, before you rush out to "do the 'Dew," you should know that Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain
Dew, and Mountain Dew Code Red are still being produced with B.V.O.
If you've ever bought a loaf of bread, you've probably seen the word "enriched" listed in
the ingredients.
This means your bread contains added vitamins and minerals like riboflavin, folic acid,
and iron.
But some of that bread also contains potassium bromate; a chemical compound that's illegal
in China, the E.U., Japan, Brazil, Australia, and even Canada.
"Potassium bromate?
This supermarket is trying to kill us!”
Potassium bromate is added to breads, wraps, and crackers to strengthen the dough so it
stretches easier and rises higher.
But although it gives bread a soft and fluffy texture, the chemical compound is a known
carcinogen.
It's even been proven in studies from as far back as 1982 that the ingredient can cause
cancer in lab rats.
Yet, potassium bromate - a.k.a. bromated flour - is perfectly legal and approved by the FDA
in the United States.
In the state of California, however, any food item that contains this chemical compound
is required to carry a warning label.
You can't go two feet in a grocery store without seeing a brand bragging that their product
contains no G.M.O.'s.
But if you head toward the produce aisle, things get a little shadier.
Many of the non-organic fruits and vegetables we consume are genetically modified to make
them more resistant to disease.
"Dude.
Just no.”
“Yeah, I'm sorry.”
It turns out, exporting this G.M.O. produce to Europe is illegal, because the E.U. has
banned the sale and consumption of genetically modified foods.
Preservatives BHA and BHT are usually found together in a variety of fatty foods like
potato chips, meat snack sticks, and practically everything else that's prepackaged and not
organic.
"You tryin to get us killed?”
“Yeah, you tryin to get killed?"
Butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene (or, let's keep it simple: BHA and BHT) are
used to protect foods from fast becoming rancid; that's why it's usually safe to eat something
past its sell-by by date.
But these preservatives are completely banned in parts of Europe.
Some studies suggest that BHA and BHT may be carcinogens, however the FDA continues
to approve their use in food and cosmetics.
"It's really good.”
Although there are some artificial food dyes that are banned in the United States, the
most popular ones - including Blue #2, Red #40, and Yellow #5 - appear in everything
from salad dressings to strawberry yogurt.
These food dyes are banned in many European Union countries unless they carry a warning
label, with the reason being that some dyes have been linked to increased hyperactivity
in young children, as well as allergies and cancer.
"So you see what Blue #1 is doing to my mouth?
Imagine your intestines.”
Although artificial food dyes are still widely used in the United States, many brands are
making strides to eliminate these dyes.
Kraft nixed Yellow #5 and Yellow #6 from their mac-n-cheese in 2016, and Mars is gradually
removing artificial colors from M&Ms and Skittles.
"…Are they contagious?"
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