Banned Foods & Beverages By State: The Good, The Bad and The Weird

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Texas

In many states, death row inmates are allowed to request "special meals" as part of a customary ritual before being executed. Each state has its own restrictions, and the meal is usually expected to fall within a reasonable spectrum. Not so in Texas, which banned the practice of "last meals" in 2011 after convicted murderer Lawrence Russell Brewer made the following elaborate request: two chicken-fried steaks with gravy and sliced onions; a cheese omelet with ground beef, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and jalapeños; a bowl of fried okra with ketchup; one pound of barbecue meat with half a loaf of white bread; a triple-patty bacon cheeseburger; three fajitas; a meat-lover’s pizza; a pint of Blue Bell Ice Cream; a slab of peanut-butter fudge with crushed peanuts; and three root beers. The state obliged him with the meal, which cost hundreds of dollars, and Brewer proceed to eat—none of it. His reason? He wasn't feeling very hungry. The practice was swiftly abolished after this, and now Texas death row inmates will receive whatever the other prisoners are eating before execution.