BLOOD AS FOOD

Many

cultures consume blood

as food, often in combination
with meat. The blood may be in
the form of blood sausage, as a
thickener for sauces, a cured
salted form for times of food
scarcity, or in a blood soup.

Blood

sausage, or black
pudding, is any sausage
made by cooking animal
blood with a filler until it
is thick enough to
congeal when cooled.
Pig or cattle blood is
most often used. Typical
fillers include meat, fat,
suet, bread, rice, barley
and oatmeal.

Pancakes
Blodplttar,

blood
pancakes from Sweden
Blood pancakes are
encountered in Galicia
(filloas), Scandinavia,
and the Baltic; for
example, Swedish
blodplttar, Finnish
veriohukainen, and
Estonian
veripannkoogid.

Soups,

stews and

sauces
Czernina, a blood
soup from Poland
Blood soups and
stews, which use
blood as part of the
broth, include
czernina, dinuguan,
haejangguk,
mykyrokka, pig's

Blood

is also
used as a
thickener in
sauces, such as
coq au vin or
pressed duck,
and puddings,
such as tit
canh. It can
provide flavor or

In

China, "blood tofu"

is most often made
with pig's or duck's
blood, although
chicken's or cow's
blood may also be
used. The blood is
allowed to congeal
and simply cut into
rectangular pieces and

Among

the
Maasai people,
drinking blood
from cattle is a
part of the
traditional diet,
especially after
special
occasions such
as ritual
circumcision or
the birth of a

 In

Korea, people consume

Seonjiguk, a soup with coagulated
blood and Sundae, a blood
sausage made generally by boiling
or steaming cow or pig's intestines
that are stuffed with various
ingredients, such as pig's blood,
cellophane noodles, kimchi,
scallions, etc.

In the Philippines, a popular

dish called dinuguan is made
from pig's blood and seasoned
with chili and is traditionally
eaten with steamed rice.

 In

Laos and Northeast Thailand), a raw version of

laap, a meat salad, is made with minced raw
meat, seasoned in spices, and covered with
blood. The spicy noodle soup Nam ngiao and
certain variants of Khao soi of the cuisine of Shan
State and Northern Thailand contain diced
curdled blood

In the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, stir-fried lamb

blood is a common dish had for breakfast and lunch.
When prepared alone it is called raththam poriyal.
More commonly it is stir-fried with lamb stomach and
intestines with spices like ginger, garlic, cloves,
cinnamon, red chili powder, green chilies, coriander
powder, cumin, shallots and grated coconut.

 In

Indonesia, especially the Batak tribe in

North Sumatera, pig's blood is used as an
ingredient and sauce mixed with andaliman
(Zanthoxylum acantophodium) for a cuisine
named Sangsang (read saksang).

In Vietnam, congealed pork blood is used in Bun

bo Hue (a spicy noodle soup), as well as congee
(a type of rice porridge). It is simply solidified,
then put into the broth to absorb the flavor.

In China and Vietnam certain types of snake

blood are considered to be an aphrodisiac,
and are drunk with rice wine.

In

Sweden, the blood soup

svartsoppa, made with goose
blood, is traditionally eaten on
the eve of Saint Martin,
especially in the southern region
of Skne.

Other

popular dishes, with blood

as one of the ingredients include
blodpudding (black pudding
blodpalt (potato dumplings
flavoured with reindeer or pig
blood) and paltbrd (bread with
blood in it, which is dried and

spray-dried

plasma has been used in the

diets of over 95% of all newly weaned
pigs in the United States. Since 1994
over 900 million pigs have consumed
plasma. The total consumption of
plasma in young swine in 2004 was 2025 million pounds.

Proliant Inc. has manufactured

bovine serum globulin for use in
the neutraceutical industry.

A study shows the bovine

globulin, when added in
recommended quantities
to dairy, juice, snack,
and beverage systems
provides a value-added
dietary supplement of
ImmunoGlobulin (IgG) for
intestinal well being.

RELIGIOUS RULING ON CONSUMPTION OF BLOOD

Consumption

and spleen.

of blood as a nutrient is forbidden in Islam, except liver

Say (O Muhammad): I find not in that which has been revealed to

me anything forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to eat it,
unless it be Maytah (a dead animal) or blood poured forth (by
slaughtering or the like), or the flesh of swine (pork); for that
surely, is impure or impious (unlawful) meat (of an animal) which
is slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allaah (or has been
slaughtered for idols, or on which Allaahs Name has not been
mentioned while slaughtering). But whosoever is forced by
necessity without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits;
(for him) certainly, your Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful
[al-Anaam 6:145]

"

"

Ibn

`Umar relates that Allahs Messenger (peace be upon

him) said: Made lawful for you are the flesh of two dead
animals and two types of blood. As for the two dead
animals, they are the locust and the fish. And as for the two
types of blood, they are the blood of the spleen and the
liver.
This hadth is related in Musnad Ahmad, Sunan Ibn Mjah,
Sunan al-Draqutn, and Sunan al-Bayhaq,

The

Catholic Church, as well as the Eastern

Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran, and
some Anglican churches, believe that in the
sacrament of the Eucharist, the participants
consume the literal blood and body of Jesus
Christ. The post-communion prayer of the
1662 Anglican Book of Common Prayer
describes the meal as "spiritual food".
Many other Christian denominations
symbolically consume the Eucharist.

Other

religions and spiritual traditions do

consume actual blood as part of rituals.
Some Pagan traditions, Satanism, a few
Native American and voodoo traditions
are reported to consume actual blood, in
some cases human (usually willingly
donated by participants in the
ceremony).