Foie gras ban will stay in effect in California

US Supreme Court ends decade-long challenge to state's proscription

A serving of salt-cured fresh foie gras with herbs is displayed at Chef Didier Durand's Cyrano's Bistrot and Wine Bar in Chicago in 2006. AP

Foie gras will remain off the menu in California after the US Supreme Court on Monday refused to get involved in a challenge to the state's ban.

Foie gras is made from the enlarged livers of ducks and geese that have been overfed through a force-feeding process known as gavage. Animal rights advocates say it is cruel.

California has been at the forefront of US efforts to ban the luxury pâté for years.

The Golden State banned foie gras in 2012, saying “a product may not be sold in California if it is the result of force-feeding a bird for the purpose of enlarging the bird’s liver beyond normal size".

New York City barred foie gras from sale in 2019, although that ban has been tied up in the courts ever since.

The Supreme Court did not comment on the case on Monday, as is typical when deferring to the work of a lower court.

The case had been going on for more than a decade. Most recently, a trial court dismissed a challenge to the ban and a federal appeals court agreed with that outcome.

The Supreme Court’s decision not to get involved leaves that decision in place.

But the law does not completely bar Californians from eating foie gras in the state as locals can still order it from interstate producers and have it sent to them.

Restaurants and retailers are still forbidden to sell it or give it away.

Ducks are force-fed at the Hudson Valley Foie Gras farm in Ferndale, New York, to fatten their livers for the delicacy in 2019. AP