Food and drink prohibitions
Some people do not eat various specific 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, 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.
Some 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 weekdays, during certain religious periods, at certain stages of life, or to certain classes of people, even if the food is otherwise permitted. On a comparative basis, what may be declared unfit for one group may be perfectly acceptable to another within the same culture or across different cultures. Food taboos usually seem to be intended to protect the human individual from harm, spiritually or physically, but there are numerous other reasons given within cultures 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, 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 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 and halal. Jains often follow religious directives to observe vegetarianism. Some Hindus do not eat beef, and some Hindus, especially those from the upper castes, consider vegetarianism as ideal and practise 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 penance for those who ate uncooked foods, and Saint Boniface wrote to Pope Zachary 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 virtually all 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, created during British 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
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 remain legal in many areas.
Bats
In Judaism, the Deuteronomic Code and Priestly Code explicitly prohibit the bat. Bat meat, like that of all predatory land animals, is haram in Islam.Birds
The Torah 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 traditions that explicitly prohibit birds of prey and natural scavengers create a distinction with other avian species; thus, eating chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys is allowed.In contrast, Islamic dietary rules permit the consumption of ostrich, while birds of prey are forbidden, as in Judaism.
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, more recently, 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 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".
The ortolan bunting developed as a more recent taboo food among French gourmets. The tiny birds were captured alive, force-fed, then drowned in Armagnac, "roasted whole and eaten that way, bones and all, while the diner draped his head with a linen napkin to preserve the precious aromas and, some believe, to hide from God."
Camels
The eating of camels is prohibited by the Torah in and. The Torah considers the camel unclean, even though it chews the cud, or regurgitates, the way bovines, sheep, goats, deer, antelope, and giraffes do, because it does not meet the cloven hoof criterion. Like these animals, camels 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 camels is allowed, and is indeed traditional in the Islamic heartland in Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula.
Cattle
Cattle hold a traditional place as objects of reverence in countries such as India. Some Hindus, particularly Brahmins, are vegetarian and strictly abstain from eating meat. All of those who do eat meat abstain from the consumption of beef, as the cow holds a sacred place in Hinduism. For example, tradition states that the goddess Kamadhenu manifests herself as a wish-granting divine cow, with such stories repeated over generations.In contrast to cow slaughter, consumption of dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and particularly ghee 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, little evidence has been found to support this conjecture. Areas suffering from famine may resort to consuming cattle in efforts to survive until the next season.
By Indian law, the slaughter of female cattle 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.
Some Chinese Buddhists discourage the consumption of beef, although it is not considered taboo. However, for Sinhalese Buddhists, it is taboo and considered to be ungrateful to kill the animal whose milk and labour provides livelihoods to many Sinhalese people.
Burmese Buddhists also have a taboo against eating beef, because they consider cows as an animal responsible for working in the fields with human beings. However, it is not strictly considered taboo in cities such as Mandalay and Yangon.
In the town of Kudus on the Indonesian island of Java, there is also a taboo on eating beef, despite most people being Muslim, to avoid offending Hindus.