Foie Gras Ban in California Faces Lawsuit

A lawsuit has been filed against the ban placed on the sale of foie gras in California.

The suit was filed in a Los Angeles Court Monday by a Canadian Exporter, a producer of foie gras in New York State, and a California restaurateur. The parties wish to get rid of the ban, which went into effect this week and prohibited the sale or creation of products derived from force-fed birds. The lawsuit argues that the ban is vague and applies to skins, feathers, and other duck products used for foie gras. They also claim that the ban violates the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause that affects companies outside California.

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Foie Gras is made from goose or duck livers that are augmented by force-feeding ducks using funnel-like tubes.

The ban was passed in 2004 and signed by then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the actual law was put into affect this past Sunday. Lawmakers had delayed the institution of the ban to enable Sonoma Artisan Foie Gras, California's only foie gras producer, the time to come up with a form of fattening a duck's liver that was not cruel. A method was never found.

According to Mercury News, prior to the institution of the law on July 1^st, numerous restaurants and fans added special menus and threw parties featuring the delicacy.