Negative commandment · Lo Ta’aseh #180 of 613
Not to eat carrion
שלא לאכול מתה
The verse · Devarim 14:21
לֹא תֹאכְלוּ כׇל־נְבֵלָה לַגֵּר אֲשֶׁר־בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ תִּתְּנֶנָּה וַאֲכָלָהּ אוֹ מָכֹר לְנׇכְרִי כִּי עַם קָדוֹשׁ אַתָּה לַה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ לֹא־תְבַשֵּׁל גְּדִי בַּחֲלֵב אִמּוֹ
“You shall not eat of any thing that dies of itself: thou shalt give it to the stranger who is in thy gates, that he may eat it: or thou mayst sell it to an alien: for thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.”
The Rambam’s words
Not to eat carrion, as [Deuteronomy 14:21] states: "Do not eat carrion."
שלא לאכול מתה, שנאמר "לא תאכלו כל נבילה" (דברים יד,כא).
Why · Sefer HaChinuch #472
To not eat from the meat of a domesticated beast, a wild animal or a bird that has died by itself
“It is from the roots of this commandment [that it is] because the body is an instrument of the soul — with it, it carries out its activity; without it, it can never complete its work.”
Who & when
“And this prohibition is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females.”
Where in the Mishneh Torah
Hilchot Forbidden Foods הלכות מאכלות אסורות