US food bans persist due to outdated federal regulations

Federal regulations in the United States continue to restrict various common foods and household products for reasons that often date back decades rather than reflecting current safety hazards. These restrictions are enforced by agencies such as the FDA, USDA, and EPA under statutes including the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Clean Air Act.

A prominent example is the Kinder Surprise egg, which remains banned under a 1938 provision that classifies confections with embedded non-nutritive objects as adulterated. While the manufacturer introduced a modified version called Kinder Joy to American stores in 2018 to comply with the law, the original chocolate egg is still prohibited from commercial sale and personal import.

Similarly, Authentic Scottish haggis has been excluded from the U.S. Market since 1971 because the USDA prohibits meat products containing livestock lung. Although American producers create a legal version using sheep heart and liver, the traditional recipe remains blocked at the border, illustrating how narrow regulatory language often determines consumer availability more than public danger.

Read the full story at qz.com.