Answers From the Hot Zone: Haitian Mud Pies

Shedding some light on the practice of eating dirt

In response to Kevin Sites' video clip about women making and eating mud pies in Haiti, the Hot Zone team was inundated with reader mail. Some praised the report while many questioned the completeness of the information. Either way, it's clear the issue needs to be explored further.

We're posting this follow-up report not only to do that, but also to make clear that the purpose of the Hot Zone is never to denigrate, but to inform.

Some readers saw the report as an interesting aspect of Haitian culture, and one even asked, "Where can I sample some of these mud pies?"

But other readers were concerned that the video was misleading. Many thought that without providing context for why people — pregnant women in particular — crave dirt, these women were being cast in a poor light. In reality, this is not unusual at all. Dirt-eating is part of a practice performed in many regions throughout the world called geophagy.

As one reader wrote, "... Haitian mudpies [are] not as weird as you might think. I'm from Kenya [where] pregnant women eat a special kind of rock... There is some research that suggests that the cravings are caused by a lack of mineral in the body... it's one of those things you do when you are pregnant... like pickles and ice cream or tuna and bananas." 

Other readers suggested that eating mud pies was a form of a condition known as pica. Research suggests this may not be true. In fact, experts vary on how to classify dirt-eating.

The Hot Zone team spoke to Dr. Daniel Rauch, associate professor of pediatrics at New York University, to clarify the practice of geophagy.

Below is a partial transcript of our conversation with Rauch:

Hot Zone:
The research we've done indicates that this kind of dirt-eating isn't pica because this is a cultural practice. Is that correct?

Dr. Rauch:
Geophagy, particularly in pregnant women, is thought to be cultural. It's not thought to be associated with anything pathologic in the individual, although eating dirt these days clearly isn't good for you.

Hot Zone:
Many of our readers tell us that its an accepted practice where they come from, that it's just another craving you get you are pregnant. If that's true, then why is it not advisable?

Dr. Rauch:
That appears to be true... It's bad because dirt isn't clean anymore. So if you were in Africa in 1700 when there weren't lead and mercury and everything else in the soil, it probably not only wasn't that bad but there are some theories that say it is responsive to certain micronutrient needs, cravings.

That's been one of the theories why kids will eat lead chips — it's associated with iron deficiency. And there is something about being iron-deficient that makes you crave eating that stuff.

That's never been proven, by the way; extensively studied but never proven.

These days there are very few pure sources of dirt that isn't contaminated so while it may be culturally acceptable, I certainly wouldn't recommend it for a pregnant woman who herself has increased nutritional needs. You wouldn't want to pass any toxins onto a developing fetus.

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