California ban on foie gras is struck down
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A federal court judge in Los Angeles has struck down a California law banning the sale of foie gras.
U.S. District Stephen Wilson said in a ruling Wednesday that the law illegally encroached on the federal government’s right to regulate poultry products, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
California lawmakers had banned the sale of foie gras in 2004 amid concerns that force-feeding poultry is inhumane. Foie gras, a fatty liver dish, is made by force-feeding ducks and geese.
Wilson’s ruling centered on the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act, which expressly prohibits states from imposing certain conditions on food.
The ban, which specifically outlawed force-feeding birds for the purpose of enlarging and selling their livers, had been challenged by a group of poultry producers, trade associations and restaurants.
Animal rights groups criticized the decision. “The decision can’t change the fact that foie gras, the diseased liver of force-fed ducks and geese, comes from blatant animal abuse,” said Matthew Strugar, an attorney for the animals rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Strugar noted that, despite Wednesday’s ruling, the production of foie gras remains illegal in California, though the state had only one producer before the ban took effect. But restaurants are now free to import it from other states.
A spokesman for the state attorney general’s office, which defended the ban, said the decision is being reviewed and that an appeal is possible.
See also:
ABA Journal: “California’s ban on standard-caged birds poses a chicken-egg problem”
