Israel risks French ire with ban on foie gras

[The Straight Story]

Israel risks French ire with ban on foie gras

It may be a much-loved delicacy in France but Israel looks set to become a foie gras free country after lawmakers adopted a bill banning the importation and sale of livers of animals that have been “tortured”.

Foie gras, a traditional type of French delicacy made from the livers of force-fed ducks or geese is not such a delicacy in Israel, it would seem.

The Knesset, the legislative branch of the Israeli government has now adopted a law “banning the importation and the selling of the livers of animals which have been tortured”.

In other words, according to France's Le point news site, it means a ban on bringing foie gras into the country with the aim of selling it.

http://www.thelocal.fr/20130802/israel-to-ban-foie-gras-selling-and-importation

[JDPriestly]

1. California allows the import and gestation of foie gras, but not the force feeding of geese.

The California foie gras law, California S.B. 1520,[1] is a California State statute enacted in 2004 that prohibits the "force feed[ing of] a bird for the purpose of enlarging the bird's liver beyond normal size" as well as the sale of products that are a result of this process.[2] This outlaws the traditional method of producing foie gras in California. The law went into effect on July 1, 2012.[3][4]

The law does not prohibit the consumption of foie gras, giving it as a gift, or its importation from outside California.

S.B. 1520 was introduced in the California State Legislature on February 19, 2004[5] by then-Senate President Pro-Tem John Burton at the request of a coalition of animal protection organizations that included Viva!USA, Farm Sanctuary, Los Angeles Lawyers for Animals, and the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights.[6]

Burton stated, "We just shouldn't be cramming a tube down a duck's throat and forcing in food to make foie gras," and that foie gras production is "an inhumane process that other countries have sensibly banned. I'm pleased California will be next on the list."[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_foie_gras_law

I guess the French are happy enough to sell foie gras to Californians.