Mock turtle soup from the time of the personal union between the Kingdom of Hanover and the Kingdom of Great Britain. While green sea turtle was popular for soup making in many countries, U.S. recipes included many other local species. Soup made from snapping turtles is still available in parts of the country. Similarly mock turtle soup recipes have a variety of substitute meats. Beside organ meats like the British recipes, recipes in the U.S. often use stewing beef or ground beef but may call for alligator. The Campbell Soup Company once produced canned mock turtle soup made of calf's head. In a
Common snapping turtle state's public elementary school children. The common snapping turtle is a traditional ingredient in turtle soup; consumption in large quantities however can become a health concern due to potential concentration of toxic environmental pollutants in the turtle's flesh. The species is currently classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, but has declined sufficiently due to pressure from collection for the pet trade and habitat degradation that Canada and several U.S. states have enacted or are proposing stricter conservation measures. In Canada, it is listed as 'Special Concern' in the Species at Risk Act in 2011 and is a target species