Almost a month after a U.S. District judge ordered California to reverse its ban on selling foie gras, the state is fighting back and appealing that decision in an attempt to get poultry liver back off the menu.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris gave notice yesterday that she’ll be appealing the recent ruling, reports the Sacramento Bee, which overturned a ban that was passed in 2004 and took effect in July 2012.
The judge said in his Jan. 7 decision that federal poultry inspection rules preempt the state’s ban on selling the dish made from either ducks or geese.
California had argued the ban was imposed on products created by a particular process, but Judge Stephen V. Wilson didn’t agree, writing: “California cannot regulate foie gras products’ ingredients by creatively phrasing its law in terms of the manner in which those ingredients were produced.”
There were no details in the one-page notice of appeal from Harris’ office, or what legal arguments it will bring up to challenge the ruling.
Activists opposed to the fattening of ducks and geese for their liver — a practice they call inhumane — will likely be pleased, as they’d urged Harris to appeal the ban’s reversal.
On the other side, farmers and foie gras producers cited losses of millions of dollars after not being able to sell their products to restaurants and business in California, and had sued to overturn the ban.
It’s still illegal to produce foie gras in the state, as the ruling only overturned the part of the ban that applied to selling it in California.
Kamala Harris appeals court ruling against California foie gras ban [Sacramento Bee]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist