Questionable Turtles And Illicit Frogs

New York is cracking down on a booming new trade in, as the article calls it, exotic food stuffs. It seems that in certain ethnic food shops some unusual things turn up when inspectors take a look around. Smoked rodent, cow lungs, armadillos, turtles, lizards - oh, pretty much anything you can think of. And almost all of it is downright illegal.

NEW YORK - When a food safety inspector walked into a market in Queens, he noticed the store had an interesting special posted on its front window: 12 beefy armadillos. In Brooklyn, inspectors found 15 pounds of iguana meat at a West Indian market and 200 pounds of cow lungs for sale at another market. At a West African grocery in Manhattan, the store was selling smoked rodent meat from a refrigerated display case. An inspector quickly seized a couple pounds of it.

All of it was headed for the dinner table. All of it was also illegal.

Authorities say the discoveries are part of a larger trend in which markets across New York are buying meat and other foods from unregulated sources and selling them to an immigrant population accustomed to more exotic fare.

State regulators have responded by stepping up enforcement, confiscating 65 percent more food through September than they did in all of 2005.

The seizures also cast a spotlight on the eating habits of this ethnically diverse city, where everything from turtles and fish paste to frogs and duck feet make their way onto people's plates.

"At one time or another, we've probably seen about everything," said Joseph Corby, director of the state's Division of Food Safety and Inspection.

It's a fascinating little story about immigrants bringing some of their unusual cuisine tastes to the US. Most of the odd food will remain illegal, I'm sure. But some of it may eventually win government approval - some already has. But it must come from a licensed facility. As demand grows, some people are likely to seek out those licenses. So turtles, frogs, iguana and armadillos can already be legally sold so long as they are properly processed. There just are not many places doing it just yet.

The other reason for the crackdown, of course, is that it is cutting into the supply of mystery meat for school cafeterias.