On July 1, a ban on the force-feeding of ducks and geese and the sale of foie gras produced by force-feeding will go into effect in California.
With the enactment of this law passed more than seven years ago, California will join the more than a dozen countries that have already banned the inhumane practice, in which birds are force-fed huge amounts of corn and fat through tubes shoved down their throats, causing their livers to become diseased and swell up to 10 or more times their normal size.
According to a recent National Academy of Sciences study, this liver disease may make some consumers who eat foie gras more susceptible to secondary amyloidosis, a deadly disease affecting humans.
Force-fed foie gras is so inhumane and poses such a frightening health risk, that the Animal Legal Defense Fund is suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Under federal law, diseased organs should not be sold at all - let alone sold as a "delicacy."
The small but vocal faction of chefs opposing the upcoming ban on force-fed foie gras are thinking only of the almighty dollar.
Both the animals they wish to continue to exploit and the unsuspecting patrons of their restaurants would be the victims of their greed.
Anita Ball
Huntingdon
