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Loading...Lawsuit Seeks Foie Gras Ban in U.S.
Several animal advocacy groups including the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Compassion Over Killing, the Animal Protection & Rescue League and Farm Sanctuary, along with pro bono attorneys from Steptoe & Johnson, have joined forces to bring a lawsuit against the USDA claiming that the production of foie gras violates the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA), which prohibits the sale of diseased poultry.
“The USDA is effectively exempting force-fed foie gras from the scrutiny required by federal law, allowing foie gras producers to market diseased organs as gourmet delicacies,” said ALDF executive director Stephen Wells.
Foie gras production involves force-feeding restrained ducks by shoving metal pipes down their throats multiple times a day, called gavage, and pumping them full of grain, or corn and fat, which leads to acute hepatic lipidosis, or fatty liver disease, which in turn leaves ducks suffering with malfunctioning livers that are ten times their normal size. The practice is considered cruel and inhumane and has already been banned in a dozen countries, while several others have a ban on force-feeding.
The complaint also addresses concerns about human health, citing “abnormally high levels of toxins” that accumulate in ducks and geese, along with a study published by the National Academy of Sciences about the associated risks of developing secondary amyloidosis for people with inflammatory diseases who eat foie gras, in addition to the connection to its consumption and other diseases, such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
Meanwhile, California is set to impose the first statewide ban of foie gras in the U.S. on July 1, 2012, but chefs are still trying to fight it.
Related Stories:
Foie Gras: A Diseased Delicacy
Foie Gras Off the Menu for Canadian Festival Dinner
Foie Gras Burgers on Wendy’s Menu in Japan
Read more: animal cruelty, farming, foie gras, usda
Photo credit: Thinkstock
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No way toxins in your diet.
Start with Chef Gordon Ramsey. He's a proponent of foie gras and poo-poos anyone who doesn't. He's FIRST on my list of boycotts.
I wish someone would treat these people like they're treating these poor animals. Let them feel this same suffering and then maybe they would ban this cruelty forever!
God help these poor little things! It breaks your heart!
I just watched a Canadian TV program about food and fois gras was one of the subjects. It is beyond belief that this practice is still allowed in a civilized society. The shame was that the restaurant that served this so called delicacy was full to overflowing. The Chef was telling the story about how he already has plans to secretly sell fois gras in California after the ban came into effect. Sometimes people really behave shamefully don't they?
Just look at the photo of the duck above. Where is the grass? Where is the pond? Has it got a life worth living?
All of those that are in favour of Foie Gras, should get treated the same way they treat geese, and then they could give a more real opinion of this situation.
This is a terrible way to treat any living creature and needs to stop. Nothing can taste so good as to make a creature suffer so bad!
I can't believe how poorly humans treat animals when all they want to do is to live like we do. God will give those a horrible disease who mistreats animals.
Stop Francophobia!
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