Hematogen (Russian: Гематоген) is a nutrition bar which is notable in that one of its main ingredients is black food albumin, a technical term for cow's blood. It was popular in the former Soviet Union.[1] Chocolate is frequently mixed within it.[2] Other ingredients may vary, but they usually contain sugar, condensed milk and vanillin.
It is often considered to be a medicinal product, and is used to treat or prevent low blood levels of iron and vitamin B12 (e.g., for anemia or during pregnancy).[3] In the Soviet Union, it was available over-the-counter.[1] They are still sold in Russia, Belarus,[4] Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine.[citation needed]
See also
edit- Sanguinaccio dolce, a sweet pudding made with pig’s blood
- Protein bar
- Blood as food
- Black pudding
References
edit- ^ a b Hay, Mark (29 March 2019). "How Russia Fell In Love With Candy Bars Made of Blood". Vice. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022.
Its [the candy bar's] iron, which prevents anemia, came from black food albumin — a technical term for blood
- ^ Greene, Samuel; Robertson, Graeme (2019). Putin Vs. the People: The Perilous Politics of a Divided Russia. Yale University Press. p. 196. ISBN 9780300245059.
- ^ "Гематоген". WebApteka. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022.
- ^ "Belarus pubs urged to sell cow-blood snacks". BBC. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
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