Californians can eat foie gras again

A Los Angeles federal judge overturned the federal government’s ban on foie gras sales, because it was contrary to the US trade laws. The goose filling will continue to be prohibited in California, but the liver of the stuffed animals are now free to sell in the Sunshine State.

In his ruling Wednesday, US District Judge Stephen Wilson wrote that the law was unconstitutional because it interferes with an existing federal law regulating poultry products.

California lawmakers agreed the ban in 2004, but gave the western US state's foie gras producers seven-and-a-half-years to comply before it came into effect on Jul 1, 2012. Restaurants serving the dish can be fined up to US$1,000. The ban has for the last 18 months outlawed force-feeding ducks or geese to make foie gras within California and bars sales of foie gras produced elsewhere if made by force-feeding a bird to enlarge its liver beyond normal size. (MTI, hirado.hu)