Banned Goods In A Surprising Number Of Countries .... |
For instance both Ovaltine and Marmite were pulled from the shelves in Denmark in 2011 and 2004 respectively, because they needed to be tested as fortified (added minerals and vitamins). Marmite didn't get approval until 2015 and Ovaltine still awaits it and with Brexit, may never do so.
It was also reported in 2014 that the owner of a British food shop in Canada was ordered to stop selling Marmite, Ovaltine and Irn-Bru because they were said to contain illegal additives.
The Devils Foodstuff?
In 1971 it became illegal to import haggis into the US from the UK, due to a ban on food containing sheep lung, which constitutes 10 – 15 percent of the traditional recipe. Despite repeated efforts by the Scots to get it lifted, the ban remains in place.
Solo Jogging
Burundi (a small central African nation) has banned jogging in groups as President (for life, probably) Pierre Nkurunziza, considers it to be a cover for subterfuge cover for people planning subversive activities.
Scrabble = 14 Points
Nicolae Ceaușescu, the now dead communist ruler (for life) of Romania, declared the word game Scrabble 'overly intellectual' and 'subversive evil' in the 1980's, and it was banned. His death ended the ban, and the game is now played more or less peacefully, as far as I can ascertain.
No Surprises
Kinder Surprise Eggs, have been banned from the USA since fears of children swallowing the small plastic toys. People have actually been arrested for trying to bring them over the border from Canada.
Not Gumming Up The Works In Singapore ... |
Gumming Up The Works
Famously (or is that infamously?), Singapore has banned chewing gum since 1992. Users or abusers face a fine of £338 for spitting it out on the street. One of the stated objectives of the ban was to prevent vandals from using spent chewing gums to disrupt Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) services, by gumming up the works so to speak..
North Korean Blues
Ahh, North Korea, gotta love it (from a distance), has banned many things, but amongst them are Blue Jeans (too USA for the regimes liking), but you can have any other colour, if you can find any to buy in that country.
Bad History
Time travel movies are banned in China as they are thought to 'disrespect history' .... so no back to the future for them, and Dr Who would be forbidden even before the sex change.
Chewing gum is a huge rubbish problem because it's very ugly and very difficult to clean up. Singapore, like London is very conscious of their tourists and so a ban is not a surprise.
ReplyDeleteThis subject reminded me of an unbanning of Pesto at Genoa airport.
A strange thing to ban ... but then aren't they all when you think on it.
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