- Ooh, okay, time to do this thing.
America is one of the freest nations on the planet,
home to those that wanna achieve anything
and pursue their dreams,
unless your dream is to buy something on this list,
in which case
(blows raspberry)
Really though, there are many things banned from America,
but some of those things might surprise you
and some of them might just straight up
make you shake your head.
No matter how much money you have,
you can't buy these things in the good ol' US of A.
So let's find out exactly what those things are.
Here, are 10 things that are banned in America.
Number one is Kinder Surprise Eggs.
Okay, this one's going to be confusing
to my American friends because you've likely
never seen nor heard of these, so allow me to explain.
Kinder Eggs are hollow milk chocolate eggs
that contain a toy inside of it when cracked open.
They're fun and tasty and they're
popular here in Canada as well as Mexico.
The reason that you've never been able to
experience these tasty things is because
back in 1938, the Food and Drug Association banned the sale
of food items with toys or trinkets embedded inside of them.
The ban was made primarily to prevent choking hazards,
which makes sense, but as a lot of people have argued,
this ban is kind of dumb because, well,
if you've ever eaten one of these,
you know just how hard it is to
choke on the massive capsule inside.
Realistically, it's way too big
to be swallowed accidentally by anyone, even a child.
Plus, there's plenty of warnings on the packaging,
advising parents not to let any children
under three play with it.
A little bit of common sense, folks.
I mean, come on, nobody's that hungry
that they're going to inhale an entire chocolate egg.
(inhales)
(chokes)
"Was there a toy in that?"
Number two is haggis.
I know, how dare they ban pudding
made from the heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep
mixed with onions and oatmeal inside of an animal stomach?
(gags)
Oh, I get it.
Haggis is a famous dish that originated in Scotland
and people either love it or hate it.
Apparently, this Scottish delicacy is pretty good,
not that I would ever try it, but regardless,
it was banned from being imported
to the United States of America back in 1971
because the FDA forbids anything that
has another animals lungs in it,
due to the fear of transmitted diseases
amongst different species.
However, anyone is free to make haggis
within the United States,
but if you want that authentic taste of animal innards,
you've gotta go to the source.
Otherwise, the government is fearful
that you could be eating a sheep's cough.
(coughs)
See, it's scary.
Number three is dog and cat fur products.
Oh, but Buddy looks so soft,
why can't I make him into a scarf?
Said no one ever.
Any item made from dog or cat fur is banned
in the United States and has been since the year 2000.
Not only is it illegal to import
or export dog and cat fur products,
but it's illegal to even produce them.
This ban was created under animal abuse laws,
and believe it or not,
the authorities will actually pay you a minimum of $500
to squeal on someone who is violating this law.
Nice gloves, Mark, is that made from Mittens?
The only exception to this is taxidermy,
so if you really want to stuff Charlie or Oscar
and pretend like they're still alive,
you're free to do so, although that's really creepy.
Pretty bird, pretty bird.
Number four is ephedra.
Ephedra is made from the plant ephedra sinica
and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine
for over 2,000 years.
More recently, it made its way to North America,
in the form of dietary supplements, like weight loss pills.
However, although popular, it was banned from America
back in 2004.
After studying over 16,000 reports of heart attack,
strokes, liver failures, and over 150 deaths,
it was believed that ephedra was the culprit.
Interestingly, despite the ban,
people still actively tried to bring it into the country,
and many people swear by it,
using ephedra to lose weight in a hurry.
Honestly, I recommend that you just hit the gym harder.
It's not that great if your a 50/50 chance
of either being drop dead gorgeous or just dropping dead.
Number five is sassafras oil.
Man, this was just fun to say.
If you were to go to a country outside of the United States
and order a root beer, you might just find that
it actually contains sassafras oil.
In fact, it's also found in soap and cleaning products
in many countries around the world,
but it was actually banned in the United States
back in 1960 due to it being linked to liver damage,
vomiting, and possibly even cancer.
On top of that, it's also an ingredient
used in the making of MDMA aka ecstasy.
So it's banned from being imported because of all of that.
Phew, man, it's a good thing it's not readily available
pretty much everywhere.
(laughs)
Oh wait.
Yeah, the twist here is that the sassafras plant
actually grows all over the United States.
It's very common along the east coast
from New York to Florida and various other states,
but, hey, the government probably
doesn't want you knowing that.
(laughs)
But, hey, I'm Canadian,
and that's none of my business.
(slurps)
Number six are antiques.
"Oh, man, Mildred is going to be ticked."
Antiques themselves within America are perfectly
fine, but importing them can actually get you
in a lot of trouble depending on what they are.
Anything that's considered culturally significant
is banned from being imported to the United States
such as archaeological objects and sculptures.
In other words, if you're traveling and you buy
a souvenir be real careful about what it is if
you're bringing it home.
Believe it or not, some things actually need
a special export permit issued by the country of origin.
Number seven is absinthe.
You may have heard of absinthe.
That psychoactive alcohol that supposedly makes
you hallucinate and see a green fairy.
(bell chimes)
It's a popular drink in Europe and other parts
of the world and has a very high alcohol content.
Sometimes up to 74%, but the fact that this stuff
can knock you out with pretty much one shot is not
actually the reason that it's banned in the United States.
It's banned because of one specific ingredient, wormwood.
Wormwood contains a chemical compound called thujone
which some claim causes hallucinations and even
muscle spasms and seizures.
So while you can still buy absinthe in America
it's sans wormwood which basically just makes it
a boring, green alcohol.
Number eight is fresh ackee fruit aka the fruit nightmare.
Seriously though, I don't like any fruit that looks
like it's looking back at me.
Freshly picked ackee fruit imported from West Africa
is actually a staple in Jamaican cuisine.
However, it's banned from the United States.
Interestingly, you can still find some canned
versions in some specialty stores.
However, fresh ackee fruit can actually be dangerous.
The seeds of the fruit can cause Jamaican Vomiting Sickness
which is pretty self-explanatory and can also
lead to seizures, a coma, or worse it can actually
be fatal so I suggest you just don't go picking these
black eyeball fruits and eating them because they're
terrifying as is.
Number nine is Mirabelle plums.
Well, this is just a straight up confusing one.
Another fruit that's banned from the US is the Mirabelle
plum and well, there really isn't much reason as to why.
Mirabelle plums look just like smaller, lighter colored
version of plums found in America, but if you
want to know what they really taste like you may
have to shell out enough for a plane ticket
to Lorraine, France where they're grown.
These plums are federally banned, but it's not
actually clear why that is.
Apparently the US has some bizarre importing law
that bans this particular fruit.
Although the law is upheld, there isn't a solid
reason as to why.
Number 10 is casu marzu.
Yep, ban this one.
Ban away.
Cheese is a staple in many US homes.
It's sold in stores and all over the country.
However, there is one cheese that you probably
wouldn't want to touch with a 10-foot pole anyway.
Luckily it's banned in the US so you won't
have to worry about it anyway.
Casu marzu, a cheese from Sardinia, Italy, is not
only made with unpasteurized milk which in it of
itself is already banned from the US, but it's filled with,
get ready for this one, fly larvae.
Yep, it's maggoty goodness.
This disgusting cheese is meant to be eaten
with the larvae still in it so it's probably
fine to a lot of people that it's banned.
Mmm, nope cheese.
That was 10 things that are banned in America.
Just a reminder that my limited edition fact T-shirt
is only available for two more days.
Make sure that you press or click on the screen on
the T-shirt below to pick one up before they're gone
forever.
Two of my most recent videos are on the right that
you can check out right now, including a really
cool video that I did with McDonald's so make sure
you press or click on your screen for that.
I will see you guys on Tuesday.
Thank you, guys, so much.
Love your face, bye.