Foie Gras Ban: Suit Filed on Behalf of Producers and Restaurants

A Los Angeles restaurant group is among plaintiffs suing the state and various officials in an attempt to overturn California's on the sale of foie gras, the goose liver delicacy usually prepared from the force-feeding of ducks and geese, according to papers obtained today.

Hot's Restaurant Group - which operates eateries in an  - along with the Canadian duck-farming trade organizatio Association des Eleveurs de Canards et d'Oies du Quebec and New York-based producer Hudson Valley Foie Gras contend that the statewide ban is "unconstitutional, vague and interferes with federal commerce laws."

The law banning the production and sale of foie gras - fatty duck and/or goose liver - and its byproducts went into effect Sunday. Restaurants serving the gourmet item can be fined up to $1,000.

Foie gras is usually produced through a process in which ducks or geese
are force fed corn through tubes inserted in their throats, a practice seen as
inhumane by animal rights activists who helped prompt the ban.

Attorney Michael Tenenbaum, who filed the suit in Los Angeles federal
court this week, said that because California represents such a large potential
market for the item, the ban severely hurts business for foie gras producers.

He said he would seek a preliminary injunction to temporarily halt the
law until the suit can go to trial. Along with the state, the complaint names
Attorney General Kamala Harris and Gov. Jerry Brown.

Animal lovers crusaded against force feeding, persuading the Legislature
to outlaw the practice, which effectively banned the delicacy in the state. An investigator for the Animal Rescue and Protection League in May.

But Tenenbaum insists the law is too vague because it does not detail
methods to measure the point at which a bird has been illegally overfed.