Some people abstain from consuming various
foods and beverages in conformity with various
religious, cultural, legal or other societal
prohibitions.
Many of these prohibitions constitute taboos.
Many food taboos and other prohibitions forbid
the meat of a particular animal, including
mammals, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, fish,
molluscs, crustaceans and insects, which may
relate to a disgust response being more often
associated with meats than plant-based foods.
Some prohibitions are specific to a particular
part or excretion of an animal, while others
forgo the consumption of plants or fungi.
Food prohibitions can be defined as rules,
codified by religion or otherwise, about which
foods, or combinations of foods, may not be
eaten and how animals are to be slaughtered
or prepared.
The origins of these prohibitions are varied.
In some cases, they are thought to be a result
of health considerations or other practical
reasons; in others, they relate to human symbolic
systems.Some foods may be prohibited during
certain religious periods (e.g., Lent), at
certain stages of life (e.g., pregnancy),
or to certain classes of people (e.g., priests),
even though the food is otherwise permitted.
On a comparative basis food taboos seem to
make no sense at all as what may be declared
unfit for one group may be perfectly acceptable
to another.
Whether scientifically correct or not, often
food taboos are meant to protect the human
individual, but there are numerous other reasons
for their existence.
An ecological or medical background is apparent
in many, including some that are seen as religious
or spiritual in origin.
Food taboos can help utilizing a resource
more efficiently, but when applied to only
a subsection of the community, a food taboo
can also lead to the monopolization of a food
item by those exempted.
A food taboo acknowledged by a particular
group or tribe as part of their ways, aids
in the cohesion of the group, helps that particular
group to stand out and maintain its identity
in the face of others and therefore creates
a feeling of "belonging".
== Causes ==
Various religions forbid the consumption of
certain types of food.
For example, Judaism prescribes a strict set
of rules, called Kashrut, regarding what may
and may not be eaten, and notably forbidding
the mixing of meat with dairy products.
Islam has similar laws, dividing foods into
haram (forbidden) and halal (permitted).
Jains often follow religious directives to
observe vegetarianism.
Hindus do not eat beef, and some Hindus apply
the concept of ahimsa (non-violence) to their
diet and consider vegetarianism as ideal,
and practice forms of vegetarianism.
In some cases, the process of preparation
rather than the food itself comes under scrutiny.
For instance, in early medieval Christianity,
certain uncooked foods were of dubious status:
a penitential ascribed to Bede outlined a
(mild) penance for those who ate uncooked
foods, and Saint Boniface wrote to Pope Zachary
(in a letter preserved in the Boniface correspondence,
no.
87) asking him how long bacon would have to
be cured to be proper for consumption.
The Kapu system was used in Hawaii until 1819.
Aside from formal rules, there are cultural
taboos against the consumption of some animals.
Within a given society, some meats will be
considered to be not for consumption that
are outside the range of the generally accepted
definition of a foodstuff.
Novel meats, i.e. animal-derived food products
not familiar to an individual or to a culture,
generally provoke a disgust reaction, which
may be expressed as a cultural taboo.
For example, although dog meat is eaten, in
certain circumstances, in Korea, Vietnam,
and China, it is considered inappropriate
as a food in Western countries.
Likewise, horse meat is rarely eaten in the
English-speaking world, although it is part
of the national cuisine of countries as widespread
as Kazakhstan, Japan, Italy, and France.
Sometimes food prohibitions enter national
or local law, as with the ban on cattle abattoirs
in most of India, and horse slaughter in the
United States.
Even after reversion to Chinese rule, Hong
Kong has not lifted its ban on supplying meat
from dogs and cats, imposed during British
colonial rule.
Environmentalism, ethical consumerism and
other activist movements are giving rise to
new prohibitions and eating guidelines.
A fairly recent addition to cultural food
prohibitions is the meat and eggs of endangered
species or animals that are otherwise protected
by law or international treaty.
Examples of such protected species include
some species of whales, sea turtles, and migratory
birds.
Similarly, sustainable seafood advisory lists
and certification discourage the consumption
of certain seafoods due to unsustainable fishing.
Organic certification prohibits certain synthetic
chemical inputs during food production, or
genetically modified organisms, irradiation,
and the use of sewage sludge.
The Fair Trade movement and certification
discourage the consumption of food and other
goods produced in exploitative working conditions.
Other social movements generating taboos include
Local Food and The 100-Mile Diet, both of
which encourage abstinence from non-locally
produced food, and veganism, in which adherents
endeavour not to use or consume animal products
of any kind.
== Prohibited foods ==
=== Amphibians ===
Judaism strictly forbids the consumption of
amphibians such as frogs.
The restriction is described in Leviticus
11:29-30 and 42-43.
Derivative chemical products from amphibians,
as well as with other proscribed animals,
must be avoided.In other cultures, foods such
as frog legs are treasured as delicacies,
and the animals may be raised commercially
in some circumstances.
However, environmental concerns over the endangerment
of frogs, even possibly pushing them into
extinction, due to overconsumption has prompted
legal action in nations such as France to
limit their use in food.
The French Ministry of Agriculture began taking
measures to protect native frog species in
1976, and efforts have continued since.
Mass commercial harvesting of the animals
was banned in 1980, though international imports
as well as private, individual hunting and
cooking remains legal in many areas.
=== Bats ===
In Judaism, the Deuteronomic Code and Priestly
Code explicitly prohibit the bat.
Bat meat is haraam (prohibited) in Islam.
=== Bears ===
Bears are not considered kosher animals in
Judaism.
Observant Jews therefore abstain from eating
bear meat.
All predatory terrestrial animals are forbidden
in Islam.
=== Birds ===
The Torah (Leviticus 11:13) explicitly states
that the eagle, vulture, and osprey are not
to be eaten.
A bird now commonly raised for meat in some
areas, the ostrich, is explicitly banned as
food in some interpretations of Leviticus
11:16.
Rabbis have frequently inferred that the singling
out of birds of prey as well as natural scavengers
in tradition for prohibition creates a distinction
with other avian species; thus, eating chickens,
ducks, geese, and turkeys is allowed.In contrast
Islamic dietary rules cite the ostrich is
permissible to consume, while birds of prey
(defined specifically as those who hunt with
claws and talons) are forbidden.
Scavengers and carrion-eaters such as vultures
and crows are avoided as food in many cultures
because they are perceived as carriers of
disease and unclean, and associated with death.
An exception is the rook, which was a recognised
country dish, and which has in more recent
times been served in a Scottish restaurant
in London.
In Western cultures today, most people regard
songbirds as backyard wildlife rather than
as food.
A balut is a developing bird embryo (usually
a duck or chicken) that is boiled and eaten
from the shell.
Part of the Quran includes understanding and
respecting the law that any animal products
should not be eaten if the animal has not
been slaughtered properly, making the animal
or animal-product "maytah".
Because balut is an egg containing a partly-developed
embryo, Muslims believe this makes it "haram",
or "forbidden".
=== Camels ===
The eating of camels is strictly prohibited
by the Torah in Deuteronomy 14:7 and Leviticus
11:4.
The Torah considers the camel unclean because
even though it chews the cud, or regurgitates—the
way bovines, sheep, goats, deer, antelope,
and giraffes (all of which are kosher) do—it
does not meet the cloven hoof criterion.
Like these animals, camels (and llamas) are
ruminants with a multi-chambered stomach.
Camels are even-toed ungulates, with feet
split in two.
However, a camel's feet form soft pads rather
than hard hooves.
In Islam, the eating of camel is allowed,
and is indeed traditional in the Islamic heartland
in Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula
more generally.
=== Cats ===
There is a strong taboo against eating cats
in many Western parts of the world, including
most of the Americas and Europe.
Cat meat is forbidden by Jewish and Islamic
law as both religions forbid the eating of
carnivores.
Cat meat is eaten as part of uncommon cuisines
of China, Vietnam and Switzerland.
Cats are commonly regarded as pets in Western
countries, or as working animals, kept to
control vermin, not as a food animal, and
consumption of cats is thus seen as a barbaric
act by a large part of the population in those
countries.
Cat meat was eaten, for example, during the
famine in the Siege of Leningrad.
In 1996, a place that served cat meat was
supposedly discovered by the Argentine press
in a shanty town in Rosario, but in fact the
meal had been set up by media from Buenos
Aires.
In 2008, it was reported that cats were a
staple part of the local diet in Guangdong,
China, with many cats being shipped down from
the north and one Guangzhou-based business
receiving up to 10,000 cats per day from different
parts of China.
Protesters in other parts of China have urged
the Guangdong provincial government to crack
down on cat traders and restaurants that serve
cat meat, although no law says it is illegal
to eat cats.The term "roof-hare" (roof-rabbit,
German Dachhase) applies to cat meat presented
as that of a hare, another small mammal used
as a source of meat.
Subtracting the skin, feet, head and tail,
hare and cat carcasses appear similar.
The only way to distinguish them is by looking
at the processus hamatus of the feline scapula,
which should have a processus suprahamatus.
Dar gato por liebre ("to pass off a cat as
a hare") is an expression common to many Spanish-speaking
countries, equivalent to "to pull the wool
over someone's eyes" derived from this basic
scam.
There is an equivalent Portuguese expression
Comprar gato por lebre, meaning "to buy a
cat as a hare".
The expression churrasco de gato ("cat barbecue")
is largely used in Brazil with a humorous
note, especially for roadside stands that
offer grilled meat on a stick (often coated
with farofa), due to their poor hygiene and
that the source of the meat is mostly unknown.
Also, in the Philippines, there is an urban
legend and a joke that some vendors use cat
meat to make siopao (steamed bun), leading
some Filipinos to name their pet cats "Siopao".
Meanwhile, "kitten cakes" and "buy three shawarma
- assemble a kitten" are common Russian urban
jokes about the suspect origin of food from
street vendors' stalls.
In English, the common expression refers to
what the victim of the trick thinks is happening:
"Buy a pig in a poke."
The inhabitants of Vicenza in northern Italy
are reputed to eat cats, although the practice
has been out of use for decades.
In February 2010, a popular Italian gastronome
was criticized and suspended from a show for
talking about the former practice of eating
cat stew in Tuscany.During the so-called "Bad
Times" of hunger in Europe during and after
World War I and World War II "roof-rabbit"
was a common food.
Those who thought that they were eating Australian
rabbits were really eating European cats.
Some restaurants in the Hai Phong and Hạ
Long Bay area in north Vietnam advertise cat
meat hot pot as "little tiger", and cats in
cages can be seen inside.
=== Cattle ===
Cattle hold a traditional place as objects
of reverence in countries such as India.
Many Hindus, particularly Brahmins, are vegetarian
and strictly abstaining from eating meat.
Many of those who do eat meat abstain from
the consumption of beef, especially in the
north and west India, as the cow holds a sacred
place in Hinduism.
For example, tradition states that the goddess
Kamdhenu manifests herself as a wish-granting
divine cow, with such stories repeated over
generations.
Beef is widely eaten in south India, especially
Kerala, and some parts of northeast India.
In contrast to cow slaughter, consumption
of dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and
particularly ghee (a form of butter) is highly
common in India.
Cow-derived products play a significant role
in Hinduism with milk particularly being highly
revered, often being used in holy ceremonies.Bullocks
were the primary source of agricultural power
and transportation in the early days, and
as India adopted an agricultural lifestyle,
the cow proved to be a very useful animal:
this respect stemming out of necessity led
to abstaining from killing cows for food;
for example, if a famine-stricken village
kills and eats its bullocks, they will not
be available to pull the plough and the cart
when next planting season comes.
However, this hypothesis has found little
data to support it.
Areas suffering from famine may resort to
consuming cattle in efforts to survive till
the next season.By Indian law, the slaughter
of female cattle (i.e. cows) is banned in
almost all Indian states except Kerala, West
Bengal and the seven north eastern states.
A person involved in either cow slaughter
or its illegal transportation could be jailed
in many states.
Slaughter of cows is an extremely provocative
issue for many Hindus.
Many Zoroastrians do not eat beef, because
of the cow that saved Zoroaster's life from
murderers when Zoroaster was a baby.
Actual Pahlavi texts state that Zoroastrians
should be fully vegetarian.Some ethnic Chinese
may also refrain from eating cow meat, because
many of them feel that it is wrong to eat
an animal that was so useful in agriculture.
Some Chinese Buddhists discourage the consumption
of beef, although it is not considered taboo.
A similar taboo can be seen among Sinhalese
Buddhists, who consider it to be ungrateful
to kill the animal whose milk and labour provides
livelihoods to many Sinhalese people.While
both beef and dairy consumption is permitted
in Judaism, the mixing of dairy products with
any sort of meat is completely forbidden.
=== Chewing gum ===
Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance
intended for chewing but not swallowing.
Humans have used chewing gum for at least
3,000 years.
In Singapore importing chewing gum is a criminal
offence.
The exception is made for dental or nicotine
gum, which is available from dentists and
pharmacies.
=== Crustaceans and other seafood ===
Almost all types of non-piscine seafood, such
as shellfish, lobster, shrimp or crayfish,
are forbidden by Judaism because such animals
live in water but do not have both fins and
scales.As a general rule, all seafood is permissible
in the 3 madh'hab of Sunni Islam except Hanafi
school of thought.
The Ja'fari school of Islamic jurisprudence,
which is followed by most Shia Muslims, prohibits
non-piscine (lacking scales) seafood (with
the exception of shrimp).
=== Dairy products ===
Milk, cheese, yogurt, and other dairy products
are not consumed by vegans due to their animal
origin.
The consumption of dairy products together
with meat is also prohibited as non-kosher
in the Jewish faith, based on Deuteronomy
14:21: "You shall not boil a young goat in
its mother's milk."
=== Dogs ===
Generally in all Western countries eating
dog meat is considered taboo, though that
taboo has been broken under threat of starvation
in the past.
Dog meat has been eaten in every major German
crisis at least since the time of Frederick
the Great, and is commonly referred to as
"blockade mutton."
In the early 20th century, consumption of
dog meat in Germany was common.
Suspicions about the provenance of Frankfurter
meat sold by German immigrants in the United
States led to the coinage of the term 'hot
dog'.
In 1937, a meat inspection law targeted against
trichinella was introduced for pigs, dogs,
boars, foxes, badgers, and other carnivores.
Dog meat has been prohibited in Germany since
1986.
In 2009 a scandal erupted when a farm near
Częstochowa was discovered rearing dogs to
be rendered down into smalec - lard.According
to the ancient Hindu scriptures (cf.
Manusmṛti and medicinal texts like Sushruta
Samhita), dog's meat was regarded as the most
unclean (and rather poisonous) food possible.
Dog's meat is also regarded as unclean under
Jewish and Islamic dietary laws; therefore,
both of those religious traditions also discourage
its consumption.
In Irish mythology, legend recounts how Cú
Chulainn, the great hero of Ulster, was presented
with a Morton's fork, forcing him to either
break his geis (taboo) about eating dog meat
(his name means Culann's Hound) or break his
taboo about declining hospitality; Cú Chulainn
chose to eat the meat, leading ultimately
to his death.
In Mexico during the pre-Columbian era a hairless
dog named xoloitzcuintle was commonly eaten.
After colonization, this custom stopped.
Lewis & Clark plus the men in his expedition
were recorded in Lewis's journals of having
eaten and enjoyed dog meat which was common
practice in Indians of the American Plains.
In East Asia, most countries excluding Vietnam,
North and South Korea rarely consume dog meat
either because of Islamic or Buddhist values
or animal rights as in the Philippines.
Manchus have a prohibition against the eating
of dog meat, which is sometimes consumed by
the Manchus' neighboring Northeastern Asian
peoples.
The Manchus also avoid the wearing of hats
made of dog's fur.
In addition to Manchus, Chinese Mongol, Miao,
Muslims, Tibetan, Yao and Yi have a taboo
against dog meat.
In Indonesia, due to its majority Islamic
population, consuming dog meat is prohibited,
with exception of Christian Batak and Minahasan
ethnic groups that traditionally consumed
dog meat.
The Urapmin people of the New Guinea Highlands
do not kill or eat dogs, unlike some neighboring
tribes, nor do they let dogs breathe on their
food.
=== Eggs ===
Jains abstain from eating eggs.
Vegans also abstain from eggs, due to their
animal origin.
Many Hindu vegetarians also refrain from eating
eggs.
An egg that naturally contains a spot of blood
may not be eaten under Jewish and Islamic
tradition, but eggs without any blood are
commonly consumed (and are not considered
to be meat, so may be eaten with dairy).
=== Elephants ===
Buddhist monks are forbidden from eating elephant
meat.Elephant meat is also not considered
Kosher by Jewish dietary laws because elephants
do not have cloven hooves and they are not
ruminants.
=== Fish ===
Speak not to me with a mouth that eats fish
Among the Somali people, most clans have a
taboo against the consumption of fish, and
do not intermarry with the few occupational
clans that do eat it.There are taboos on eating
fish among many upland pastoralists and agriculturalists
(and even some coastal peoples) inhabiting
parts of southeastern Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea,
Somalia, Kenya, and northern Tanzania.
This is sometimes referred to as the "Cushitic
fish-taboo", as Cushitic speakers are believed
to have been responsible for the introduction
of fish avoidance to East Africa, though not
all Cushitic groups avoid fish.
The zone of the fish taboo roughly coincides
with the area where Cushitic languages are
spoken, and as a general rule, speakers of
Nilo-Saharan and Semitic languages do not
have this taboo, and indeed many are watermen.
The few Bantu and Nilotic groups in East Africa
that do practice fish avoidance also reside
in areas where Cushites appear to have lived
in earlier times.
Within East Africa, the fish taboo is found
no further than Tanzania.
This is attributed to the local presence of
the tsetse fly and in areas beyond, which
likely acted as a barrier to further southern
migrations by wandering pastoralists, the
principal fish-avoiders.
Zambia and Mozambique's Bantus were therefore
spared subjugation by pastoral groups, and
they consequently nearly all consume fish.There
is also another center of fish avoidance in
Southern Africa, among mainly Bantu speakers.
It is not clear whether this disinclination
developed independently or whether it was
introduced.
It is certain, however, that no avoidance
of fish occurs among southern Africa's earliest
inhabitants, the Khoisan.
Nevertheless, since the Bantu of southern
Africa also share various cultural traits
with the pastoralists further north in East
Africa, it is believed that, at an unknown
date, the taboo against the consumption of
fish was similarly introduced from East Africa
by cattle-herding peoples who somehow managed
to get their livestock past the aforementioned
tsetse fly endemic regions.Certain species
of fish are also forbidden in Judaism such
as the freshwater eel (Anguillidae) and all
species of catfish.
Although they live in water, they appear to
have no scales (except under a microscope)
(see Leviticus 11:10-13).
Sunni Muslim laws are more flexible in this.
Catfish and shark are generally seen as halal
as they are special types of fish.
Eel is generally considered permissible in
the four Sunni madh'hab.
The Ja'fari jurisprudence followed by most
Shia Muslims forbid all species of fish that
does not have scales, it also forbid all shell
fish species except prawns.Many tribes of
the Southwestern United States, including
the Navaho, Apache, and Zuñi, have a taboo
against fish and other water-related animals,
including waterfowl.Norse settlers in Greenland
(10th–15th centuries AD) developed a taboo
against fish consumption, as recounted in
Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose
to Fail or Succeed.
This is unusual, as Norsemen did not generally
have a taboo against fish, Diamond noting
that "Fish bones account for much less than
0.1% of animal bones recovered at Greenland
Norse archeological sites, compared to between
50 and 95% at most contemporary Iceland, northern
Norway, and Shetland sites."
=== 
Animal Fetuses ===
Many countries observe this as a delicacy
but it is a taboo in most countries.
Considered as corpses, fetuses of goats and
sheep are a delicacy in parts of India, China
and Vietnam.
Known as "kutti pi" (fetus bag), this is prepared
to become a soup or a spicy curry.
With only the intestines removed, the fetus
is slow cooked for a few minutes.
=== Fungi and plants ===
Vedic Brahmins, Gaudiya Vaishnavas, tantriks
and some Buddhist priests abstain from fungi
and all vegetables of the onion family (Alliaceae).
They believe that these excite damaging passions.
In North Indian traditions, plants of the
onion family, and effectively all overwintering
plants are considered taboo.
This is possibly due to the influence of Jain
traditions.
In Jain traditions, bad karma is generated
with all forms of killing, including that
of plants.
Hierarchy of living creatures is based on
the number of senses they possess.
In this hierarchy, overwintering plants such
as onions are ranked higher than other food
crops such as wheat and rice.
The ability of onions to observe the changing
of the seasons and bloom in spring is believed
to be an additional 'sense' absent in lower
plants.
The amount of bad karma generated depends
on the number of senses the creature possesses.
Therefore, it is thought best to avoid eating
onions.
Fungi are eschewed as they grow at night.
In Iceland, rural parts of Sweden and Western
Finland, although not taboo, mushrooms were
not widely eaten before the Second World War.
They were viewed as a food for cows and were
also associated with the stigma of being a
wartime and poverty food.
This is a marked contrast to the ancient Romans,
who considered the mushroom a delicacy of
the highest order and held it in high regard
as food fit for emperors.
=== Guinea pig and related rodents ===
Guinea pigs, or cuy, are commonly eaten in
Peru, in the southwestern cities and villages
of Colombia, and among some populations in
the highlands of Ecuador, mostly in the Andes
highlands.
Cuyes can be found on the menu of restaurants
in Lima and other cities in Peru, as well
as in Pasto, Colombia.
Guinea pig meat is exported to the United
States and European nations.In 2004, the New
York City Department of Parks and Recreation
took legal action to stop vendors serving
cuy at an Ecuadorian festival in Flushing
Meadows Park.
New York State allows for the consumption
of guinea pigs, but New York City prohibits
it.
Accusations of cultural persecution have since
been leveled.The guinea pig's close rodent
cousins, capybara and paca, are consumed as
food in South America.
The Catholic Church's restriction on eating
meat during Lent does not apply to the capybara,
as it is specifically exempted from this rule.
=== Horses and other equines ===
Horse meat is part of the cuisine of countries
as widespread as Italy, with an average of
900 grams consumed per person annually; Belgium,
France, Spain and Switzerland, where horse
meat is common in supermarkets; Germany with
only 50 grams consumed per person on average
annually.
It is still sold in some specialized butcher
shops in eastern Austria, and also eaten in
Polynesia, Serbia, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, but
is taboo in some religions and many countries.
It is forbidden by Jewish law, because the
horse is not a ruminant, nor does it have
cloven hooves.
Similarly to dogs, eating horses was a taboo
for the Castro culture in Northwestern Portugal,
and it is still a counter-cultural practice
in the region.Horse meat is forbidden by some
sects of Christianity.
In 732, Pope Gregory III instructed Saint
Boniface to suppress the pagan practice of
eating horses, calling it a "filthy and abominable
custom".
The Christianisation of Iceland in 1000 AD
was achieved only when the Church promised
that Icelanders could continue to eat horsemeat;
once the Church had consolidated its power,
the allowance was discontinued.
Horsemeat is still popular in Iceland and
is sold and consumed in the same way as beef,
lamb and pork.
In Islam, opinions vary as to the permissibility
of horse meat.
Some cite a hadith forbidding it to Muslims,
but others doubt its validity and authority.
Wild horses are generally seen as halal while
domesticated horses and asses are viewed as
forbidden.
Various Muslim cultures have differed in the
attitude in eating the meat.
Historically, Turks and Persians have eaten
the meat, while in North Africa this is rare.
Horse meat consumption is modestly counter-cultural
in the English-speaking world.
In Canada, horse meat is legal.
Most Canadian horse meat is exported to Continental
Europe or Japan.
The consumer protection show "Kassensturz"
of Swiss television SRF discovered the bad
treatment and brutal animal husbandry in Canadian
horse meat farms, consequently the import
from such farms has been boycotted.
In the United States, sale and consumption
of horse meat is illegal in California and
Illinois.
However, it was sold in the US during WW II,
since beef was expensive, rationed and destined
for the troops.
The last horse meat slaughterhouse in USA
was closed in 2007.
Nevertheless, discarded leisure, sport and
work horses are collected and sold at auctions.
They are shipped across the country by transporters
to the borders of Canada in the north and
Mexico in the south to be sold to horse meat
butchers.
The handling of the animals at the collection
points and during the hours of transport is
brutal.
Some animals do not survive the hours long
transports.
The issue of horse consumption in the UK and
Ireland was raised in 2013 with regards to
the 2013 horse meat contamination scandal.
Although generally horse meat is also avoided
in the Balkans, though not Slovenia, as horse
is considered to be a noble animal, or because
eating horse meat is associated with war-time
famine, it has a small niche market in Serbia.
=== Humans ===
Of all the taboo meat, human flesh ranks as
the most heavily proscribed.
In recent times humans have consumed the flesh
of fellow humans in rituals and out of insanity,
hatred, or overriding hunger – never as
a common part of their diet, but it is thought
that the practice was once widespread among
all humans.
The consumption of human flesh is forbidden
by Hinduism.Catholics, Lutherans, and Orthodox
Christians do not view themselves as engaging
in cannibalism when taking communion, although
the bread and wine are believed to become
"of the same substance" as the body and blood
of Christ before being consumed, they remain
bread and wine in all ways to the senses.
Catholics refer to this as transubstantiation;
the Orthodox believe the change occurs, but
hesitate to attempt a description of the mechanism,
believing it to be a sacred mystery.
Most Protestants and other Christian denominations
do not believe that transubstantiation (or
any actual physical presence of Jesus in any
form) occurs at all.Cannibalism used to be
required in certain tribes; the Fore people
of Papua New Guinea were particularly well-studied
in their eating of the dead, because it led
to kuru, a disease believed to be transmitted
by prions.
In the book Daily life in China, on the eve
of the Mongol invasion, 1250-1276 Jacques
Gernet refers to restaurants that specialized
in human flesh.
From the context, it does not appear that
this was a freak event associated with famine.
=== Insects ===
In Judaism and within other groups following
the Hebrew Torah certain locusts are allowed
as food (Leviticus 11:22 and Matthew 3:4).
Except for certain locusts and related species,
insects are not considered Kosher foods; dietary
laws also require that practitioners check
food carefully for insects.
In Islam locusts are considered lawful food
along with fish that do not require ritual
slaughtering.
Honey is concentrated nectar and honeydew
which has been regurgitated by bees.
It is considered kosher even though honey
bees are not, an apparent exception to the
normal rule that products of an unclean animal
are also unclean.
This topic is covered in the Talmud and is
explained to be permissible on the grounds
that the bee does not originally make the
honey, the flower does, while the bees store
and dehydrate the liquid into honey.
This is different to royal jelly, which is
produced by bees directly and is considered
non-Kosher.
Some vegans also avoid honey as they would
any other animal product.
=== Kangaroo ===
Kangaroo meat is banned in the U.S. state
of California.
The ban was first imposed in 1971; a moratorium
was put in place in 2007, allowing the importation
of the meat, but the ban was re-enacted in
2015.
=== Lettuce ===
Lettuce is taboo to the Yazidis religion.
=== Living animals ===
Islamic, Judaic law (including Noahide Law),
and some laws of some Christians forbid any
portion that is cut from a live animal (Genesis
9:4, as interpreted in the Talmud, Sanhedrin
59a).
Judaism restricts this prohibition to land
animals and birds; fish do not require kosher
slaughter, but must first be killed before
being eaten.
Examples of the eating of animals that are
still alive include eating live seafood, such
as "raw oyster on the half shell" and ikizukuri
(live fish).
Sashimi using live animals has been banned
in some countries.
Practices such as Ikizukuri are prohibited
in Judaism under the law forbidding unnecessary
pain to animals.
Another example occurs in Shanghai, China,
and surrounding areas, where live shrimp is
a common dish served both in homes and restaurants.
The shrimp are usually served in a bowl of
alcohol, which makes the shrimp sluggish and
complacent.
Related may be the revulsion in Western cultures
around eating fertilized partly developed
eggs (balut) consumed in parts of Southeast
Asia.
=== Monkey ===
Monkey brains is a dish consisting of, at
least partially, the brain of some species
of monkey or ape.
In Western popular culture, its consumption
is repeatedly portrayed and debated, often
in the context of portraying exotic cultures
as exceptionally cruel, callous, and/or strange.Monkeys
are revered animals in India, largely because
of the monkey god Hanuman.
Most Hindus are vegetarian and do not eat
any kind of meat, including monkeys.
Meat eating Indians also do not kill or eat
monkeys.
Killing and eating monkeys (or other animals
which are considered wild) is a taboo and
illegal in India.
=== Offal ===
Offal is the internal organs of butchered
animals, and may refer to parts of the carcass
such as the head and feet ("trotters") in
addition to organ meats such as sweetbreads
and kidney.
Offal is a traditional part of many European
and Asian cuisines, including such dishes
as the steak and kidney pie in the United
Kingdom or callos a la madrileña in Spain.
Haggis has been Scotland's national dish since
the time of Robert Burns.
In northeast Brazil, there is a similar dish
to haggis called "buchada", made with goats'
stomach.Except for heart, tongue (beef), liver
(chicken, beef, or pork), and intestines used
as natural sausage casings, organ meats consumed
in the U.S. tend to be regional or ethnic
specialities; for example, tripe as menudo
or mondongo among Latinos and Hispanos, chitterlings
in the Southern United States, scrapple on
the Eastern Seaboard, fried-brain sandwiches
in the Midwest, and beef testicles called
Rocky Mountain oysters or "prairie oysters"
in the west.
In Argentina and other Spanish language countries
bull's testicles are served as huevos de toro
or 'bull's eggs'.
In some regions, such as the European Union,
brains and other organs which can transmit
bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow
disease") and similar diseases have now been
banned from the food chain as specified risk
materials.
Although eating the stomach of a goat, cow,
sheep, or buffalo might be taboo, ancient
cheesemaking techniques utilize stomachs (which
contain rennet) for turning milk into cheese,
a potentially taboo process.
Newer techniques for making cheese include
a chemical process with artificial rennet.
This means that the process by which cheese
is made (and not the cheese itself) is a factor
in determining whether it is forbidden or
allowed by strict vegetarians.
=== Pigs/pork ===
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
data reports pork as the most widely eaten
meat in the world.
Consumption of pigs is forbidden in Islam,
Judaism and certain Christian denominations,
such as Seventh-day Adventists.
This prohibition is set out in the holy texts
of the religions concerned, e.g. Qur'an 16:115,
Leviticus 11:7-8 and Deuteronomy 14:8.
Pigs were also taboo in at least three other
cultures of the ancient Middle East: the Phoenicians,
Egyptians and Babylonians.
In some instances, the taboo extended beyond
eating pork, and it was also taboo to touch
or even look at pigs.The original reason for
this taboo is debated.
Maimonides seems to have thought the uncleanness
of pigs was self-evident, but mentions with
particular aversion their propensity to eat
feces.
In the 19th century some people attributed
the pig taboo in the Middle East to the danger
of the parasite trichina, but this explanation
is now out of favour.
James George Frazer suggested that in ancient
Israel, Egypt and Syria, the pig was originally
a sacred animal, which for that reason could
not be eaten or touched; the taboo survived
to a time when the pig was no longer regarded
as sacred, and was therefore explained by
reference to its being unclean.More recently,
Marvin Harris posited that pigs are not suited
for being kept in the Middle East on an ecological
and socio-economical level; for example, pigs
are not suited to living in arid climates
and thus require more water than other animals
to keep them cool, and instead of grazing
they compete with humans for foods such as
grains.
As such, raising pigs was seen as a wasteful
and decadent practice.
Another explanation offered for the taboo
is that pigs are omnivorous, not discerning
between meat or vegetation in their natural
dietary habits.
The willingness to consume meat sets them
apart from most other domesticated animals
which are commonly eaten (cattle, sheep, goats,
etc.) who would naturally eat only plants.
Mary Douglas has suggested that the reason
for the taboo against the pig in Judaism is
three-fold: (i) it trangresses the category
of ungulates, because it has a split hoof
but does not chew the cud, (ii) it eats carrion
and (iii) it was eaten by non-Israelites.
=== 
Poppy seed ===
Poppy seeds are used as condiments in many
cultures.
In Singapore, poppy seeds are classified as
"prohibited goods" by the Central Narcotics
Bureau (CNB).
=== Rabbit ===
The book of Leviticus in the Bible classifies
the rabbit as unclean because it does not
have a split hoof, even though it does chew
and reingest partially digested material (equivalent
to "chewing the cud" among ruminants).
The consumption of rabbit is allowed in Sunni
Islam, and is popular in several majority-Sunni
countries (e.g. Egypt, where it is a traditional
ingredient in molokheyya), but it is forbidden
in the Ja'fari jurisprudence of Twelver Shia
Islam.
=== Rats and mice ===
In most Western cultures, rats and mice are
considered either unclean vermin or pets and
thus unfit for human consumption, traditionally
being seen as carriers of plague.
However, rats are commonly eaten in rural
Thailand and Vietnam and other parts of Indochina.
Cane rats (Thryonomys swinderianus and Thryonomys
gregorianus) and some species of field mice
are a rich source of protein in Africa.
Bamboo rats are also commonly eaten in the
poorer parts of Southeast Asia.
In Ghana, Thryonomys swinderianus locally
referred to as "Akrantie", "Grasscutter" and
(incorrectly) as "Bush rat" is a common food
item.
The proper common name for this rodent is
"Greater Cane Rat", though actually it is
not a rat at all and is a close relative of
porcupines and guinea pigs that inhabit Africa,
south of the Saharan Desert.
In 2003, the U.S. barred the import of this
and other rodents from Africa because of an
outbreak of at least nine human cases of monkeypox,
an illness never before been seen in the Western
Hemisphere.Historically, rats and mice have
also been eaten in the West during times of
shortage or emergency, such as during the
Siege of Vicksburg and the Siege of Paris.
Dormice were also domesticated and raised
for food in Ancient Rome and by Etruscans;
to this day the edible dormouse (Glis glis)
is considered a rare delicacy in Slovenia
and Croatia.
In some Asian countries, mice are eaten, and
go by the name of vole.
In France, rats bred in the wine stores of
Gironde were cooked with the fire of broken
wine barrels and eaten, dubbed as cooper's
entrecôte.
In some communities the muskrat (which is
not a rat at all) is hunted for its meat (and
fur) in e.g. some parts of Flanders where
it is served as waterkonijn (water rabbit).
See also under "Fish" for consumption of beaver
tails.
Nutria, another large rodent, has been hunted
or raised for food in the United States.Rats
were also traditionally consumed by certain
communities in the Indian state of Bihar.Consumption
of any sort of rodent, or material originating
from rodents, is forbidden in Judaism.
=== Reptiles ===
Islam strictly forbids the consumption of
reptiles, such as crocodiles and snakes.
Eating reptiles is also forbidden in Judaism.
In other cultures, foods such as alligator
are treasured as delicacies, and the animals
are raised commercially.
=== Snails ===
As they are molluscs, snails are not kosher.
Snails are not allowed to be eaten in Islam
because it is not Halal.
=== Vegetables ===
In certain versions of Jainism, Buddhism and
Hinduism, vegetables of the onion genus are
restricted according to Shastras.
Many Hindus discourage eating onion and garlic
along with non-vegetarian food during festivals
or Hindu holy months of Shrawan, puratassi
and Kartik.
However, shunning onion and garlic is not
very popular among Hindus as compared to avoiding
non-vegetarian foods, so many people do not
follow this custom.
Jains not only abstain from consumption of
meat, but also do not eat root vegetables
(such as carrots, potatoes, radish, turnips,
etc) as doing so kills the plant and they
believe in ahimsa.
Chinese Buddhist cuisine traditionally prohibits
garlic, Allium chinense, asafoetida, shallot,
and Allium victorialis (victory onion or mountain
leek), while Kashmiri Brahmins forbid "strong
flavored" foods.
This encompasses garlic, onion, and spices
such as black pepper and chili pepper, believing
that pungent flavors on the tongue inflame
the baser emotions.
In Yazidism, the eating of lettuce and butter
beans is taboo.
The Muslim religious teacher and scholar,
Falah Hassan Juma, links the sect's belief
of evil found in lettuce to its long history
of persecution by Muslims and Christians.
Historical theory claims one ruthless potentate
who controlled the city of Mosul in the 13th
century ordered an early Yazidi saint executed.
The enthusiastic crowd then pelted the corpse
with heads of lettuce.
The followers of Pythagoras were vegetarians,
and "Pythagorean" at one time came to mean
"vegetarian".
However, their creed prohibited the eating
of beans.
The reason is unclear: perhaps the flatulence
they cause, perhaps as protection from potential
favism, but most likely for magico-religious
reasons.Vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower,
while not taboo, may be avoided by observant
Jews and other religions due to the possibility
of insects or worms hiding within the numerous
crevices.
Likewise, fruits such as blackberries and
raspberries are recommended by kashrut agencies
to be avoided as they cannot be cleaned thoroughly
enough without destroying the fruit.The common
Egyptian dish mulukhiyah, a soup whose primary
ingredient is jute leaves (which leaves did
not have any other culinary purpose), was
banned by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr
Allah sometime during his reign (996-1021
CE).
The ban applied specifically to mulukhiyah,
and also to other foodstuffs said to be eaten
by Sunnis.
While the ban was eventually lifted after
the end of his reign, the Druze, who hold
Al-Hakim in high regard and give him quasi-divine
authority, continue to respect the ban, and
do not eat mulukhiyah of any kind to this
day.
=== Whales ===
Sunni Islam permits Muslims to consume the
flesh of whales that have died of natural
causes as there is a famous Sunni hadith which
cites Muhammad's approval of such.
Whale meat is forbidden (haram) in Shia Islam
as whales do not have scales.
In much of the world whale meat is not eaten
due to the endangerment of whales but it is
not traditionally forbidden.
== Prohibited drinks ==
=== 
Alcohol ===
Some religions – including Buddhism, Islam,
Jainism, Rastafari movement, Bahá'í Faith,
and various branches of Christianity such
as the Baptists, the Church of God In Christ,
Methodists, the Latter-day Saints, Seventh-day
Adventists and the Iglesia ni Cristo – forbid
or discourage the consumption of alcoholic
beverages.
The Hebrew Bible describes a Nazirite vow
(Numbers 6:1-21) that includes abstinence
from alcohol, specifically wine and probably
barley beer (according to the Septuagint translation
and the Bauer lexicon: σικερα, from
the Akkadian shikaru, for barley beer).
The New JPS translation is: "wine and any
other intoxicant".
Other versions such as the NIV prohibit both
alcohol and all alcohol derived products such
as wine vinegar.
There is no general taboo against alcohol
in Judaism.
There are also cultural taboos against the
consumption of alcohol, reflected for example
in the Teetotalism or Temperance movement.
There is also something of a cultural taboo
in several countries, against the consumption
of alcohol by women during pregnancy for health
reasons, as seen, for example, which in the
Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 by ILO.
=== Blood ===
Some religions prohibit drinking or eating
blood or food made from blood.
In Islam the consumption of blood is prohibited
(Haraam).
Halal animals should be properly slaughtered
to drain out the blood.
Unlike in other traditions, this is not because
blood is revered or holy, but simply because
blood is considered ritually unclean or Najis,
with certain narratives prescribing ablutions
(in the case of no availability of water)
if contact is made with it.
In Judaism all mammal and bird meat (not fish)
is salted to remove the blood.
Jews follow the teaching in Leviticus, that
since "the life of the animal is in the blood",
no person may eat (or drink) the blood.
Iglesia ni Cristo and Jehovah's Witnesses
prohibit eating or drinking any blood.According
to the Bible, blood is only to be used for
special or sacred purposes in connection with
worship (Exodus chapters 12, 24, 29, Matthew
26:29 and Hebrews).
In the first century, Christians, both former
Jews (the Jewish Christians), and new Gentile
converts, were in dispute as to which particular
features of Mosaic law were to be retained
and upheld by them.
The Apostolic Decree suggested that, among
other things, it was necessary to abstain
from consuming blood:
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and
to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than
these necessary things;
That ye abstain from meats offered to idols,
and from blood, and from things strangled,
and from fornication: from which if ye keep
yourselves, ye shall do well, Fare ye well.
=== Coffee and tea ===
"Hot drinks" are taboo for members of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The term is misleading as the ban is applied
exclusively to coffee and tea (i.e. not hot
cocoa or herbal teas).
The Word of Wisdom, a code of health used
by church members, outlines prohibited and
allowed substances.
While not banned, some Mormons avoid caffeine
in general, including cola drinks.
Members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
also generally avoid caffeinated drinks.There
is a widely reported story, possibly apocryphal,
that some Catholics urged Pope Clement VII
(1478 – 1534) to ban coffee, calling it
"devil's beverage".
After tasting the beverage, the Pope is said
to have remarked that the drink was "... so
delicious that it would be a sin to let only
misbelievers drink it."
(See the History of coffee.)
=== 
Human breast milk ===
While human breast milk is universally accepted
for infant nutrition, some cultures see the
consumption of breast milk after weaning as
taboo.
== See also ==
== Notes
