Weirdest Food Laws In The US

We've all heard of "crimes against food," but it turns out laws involving food are totally real (and in some cases, totally ridiculous). While there are all kinds of laws out there that don't make sense, and some that the public is more highly aware of — thank you meter maid — here in America we have some weird food laws that sound almost too insane to be true. How you can eat fried chicken, what you can't do with an ice cream cone, where you can eat watermelon, strict pickle regulations, and even where you can and can't plan a picnic are all part of some of the strangest food laws that ever existed. Since you're probably not familiar with all the weird food legislation that has passed into law, we decided to round up some of the best. Laugh all you want, but seriously, we didn't make this stuff up. From the arguably practical to the downright absurd, these weird food laws actually exist.

When it comes to the debate of margarine versus butter, things can get a little heated. While some people actually prefer the taste of the butter substitute, others just can't tolerate the fake stuff at all. The state of Wisconsin falls into the latter category. Considering the Wisconsin law that no person at any state institution can be served a butter substitute (including inmates) you might assume the good people of Wisconsin just really hate margarine. The truth makes a little bit more sense. 

Margarine came to the US in the 1800s and was soon banned in several states as a way to protect the dairy industry. Its low cost won it fans and eventually it was eased into the American market — at least everywhere but Wisconsin. By the middle of the 1960s, Wisconsin was the only remaining state to ban margarine, and that law is still on the books today. Unless they have a doctor's note, every student, patient, and inmate shall be served real butter. 

Due to new health guidelines and tight budgets, many entities have now found loopholes around that law and schools, hospitals and some county jails now serve butter substitutes. State prisons, however, are still on the hook for serving the real stuff. Guess there's at least one perk to being incarcerated — that is, if you're one of the people that prefers butter.

If you're shopping at a liquor store in Indiana and get the desire for a cold soda pop, you're out of luck. According to Indiana law, it's illegal for a liquor store to sell refrigerated soda. The law doesn't end there on cold commodities. It's also illegal for a liquor store to sell chilled mineral water, charged water, grenadine, ginger ale, and flavoring extracts. Maybe they're trying to crack down on all those classic cocktail enthusiasts who like to mix up a hard beverage in the parking lot? Actually, it makes a lot more sense when you realize this is a law that actually goes two ways: Grocery stores in Indiana cannot sell cold beer, either. According to the Indianapolis Star, the liquor store industry in Indiana has fought hard to keep this law on the books because it's what sets them apart from other businesses. Since Indiana is one of 26 states that allows liquor to be sold in grocery stores that hold the correct permits. Basically, you can buy your beer with the rest of your groceries — but if you want it cold, you're going to have to make another stop.

There are many excellent spots to have a picnic. On a blanket in the grass, at a picnic table in the park, on the beach, and even when you summit on a hike. What's not such a good spot to have a picnic is on a highway. This may sound like a no-brainer, but apparently somebody must have tried it because Delaware had to make highway picnicking illegal. According to this weird food law, no person is allowed to tailgate whether it's in a vehicle or picnic on a street or highway within the limits of Fenwick Island. Causing a traffic jam in general by stopping a vehicle on the highway is never a good idea, so it makes sense that the good people of Delaware wouldn't want his to happen. The strange part is that they actually had to put it into law. While that's understandable, is light snacking while in a moving vehicle on the highway considered to be illegal? Just want to clarify because it's hard to pass up a good road snack.

In case you weren't familiar, the appropriate time to use a car horn is when other drivers need to be warned of a road hazard. What's not an appropriate is to use a car horn is in front of a sandwich shop after 9 p.m. Wait, what? Believe it or not, this is actually a law that exists. According to the law, if you're in Little Rock, Arkansas it is illegal to honk your car horn after 9 p.m. if you are in front of a sandwich shop or anywhere where cold drinks are sold. This weird law most likely has to do with the fact that a car horn is considered to be a noise disturbance, which apparently they take very seriously. While most sandwich shops seem to cater more to the lunch crowd, in Little Rock they must really love their late dinner crowd.

Usually it's up to the discretion of an employer to tell their employees what to wear to work. In Broward County, Florida, it's the law that lets you know. Specifically, the law is geared toward letting mobile food vendors know what they can wear to work. Broward County law states that mobile food vendors are not allowed to dress provocatively in any way. To do so would be considered a hazard or an obstruction of traffic (apparently, rubber-neckers are big problem in this part of the US). The law goes into rather great detail to discuss what exposed parts of the human body along with what types of clothing are considered unacceptable. While some of the clothing items totally make sense, it does seem odd that a beach county would find T-back bathing suits unacceptable. Sorry vendors, you can't go straight from the beach to work, that is, unless you're really good at hiding your bathing suit from law officials stopping by for a quick bite.