The Popular UK Breakfast Food You Can't Bring Into The US

The full English is a U.K. tradition gracing morning meal tables nationwide — in Great Britain, that is. In the U.S., one of the staple elements of a full English carries a dicey legal status. A full English breakfast comprises eggs (fried, poached, or scrambled), sausages, toast, grilled or fried tomatoes, back bacon, English-style baked beans, and black pudding. Notably, black pudding is also a staple of the full Irish breakfast meal and the Ulster fry.

The idea that black pudding is outright illegal in the U.S. is a widespread misconception. The rumor mill churns once again for unfamiliar global foods! Still, it's important to note that the cloudy legality surrounding black pudding doesn't pertain to its consumption, possession, or manufacturing, but rather to its food safety control and foreign import regulations.

Black pudding — not to be confused with white pudding — isn't a "pudding" at all. Instead, it's a type of blood sausage (an all-time favorite of the late-great Anthony Bourdain). Specifically, black pudding is made from a combination of pork blood, onions, herbs and seasonings, plus cereal grains like oatmeal, oat groats, or barley as a binder. On the breakfast table, it typically appears sliced and fried. Some versions also include lard or beef suet for a richer mouthfeel, and pennyroyal, marjoram, thyme, and mint are customary spices. It's a trip around the palate — but a trip that cannot, in many cases, land in the U.S.

Black pudding is subjected to strict commercial import and sales restrictions in the U.S. due to national food safety precautions. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Services has thorough standards surrounding animal blood used as a food ingredient. Some versions of black pudding also include sheep lungs, which are illegal to import into the U.S. Foodies can't bring authentic haggis (sheep lung) back from Scotland, either. Due to a maze of legal red tape, it often isn't worth the hassle for manufacturers, and locating black pudding for sale in the U.S. is subsequently pretty scarce. Renowned U.K. foodstuff shop Myers of Keswick in Manhattan, for instance, sells British blood pudding. It hasn't been banned outright, and it isn't illegal in America, but due to sanitary restrictions, foodies stateside aren't likely to spy it in the meat aisle at their average grocery store.

Offal is a majorly underrated protein category in the contemporary food scene, but it's no stranger to controversy, including foie gras and ortolan. Still, it's also worth noting that many other countries have their own unique versions of blood sausages made with pigs' blood, such as Spain (morcilla), Korea (soondae), Mexico (moronga), France (boudin noir), and more. Black pudding has even endured contentious legality within the U.K. In the 1600s, during the Reformation era, some religious leaders ruled that animal blood should not be part of a Protestant diet, which meant black pudding was out.