Foie Gras is Now Legal To Ship To California

Lovers of this luxurious delicacy can now rejoice: a federal ruling has overturned the California foie gras ban, making it legal for third-party vendors (that’s us!) to sell and ship foie gras to California. We’re thrilled that West Coast foodies will now be able to enjoy our full line of foie gras, available in whole lobes, slices, and morsels.

So why was foie gras banned in California?

The foie gras ban started in California back on 2004, when under the pressure of human rights activist, a US District Judge ruled that the production of foie gras in the state of California was illegal, displacing several foie gras producers out of the state. At that point, foie gras could be eaten, sold, and served in restaurants within the state, but could not be produced there. But Californians could still enjoy the delicacy. That lasted until 2017, when a court ruling upheld the animal rights activist claims, and foie gras could not be shipped into the State at all.

The claim by human rights activists was that the methods used by foie gras producers were cruel. Foie gras producers, in turn, firmly uphold that force-feeding the ducks with a flexible tube – called gavage is painless for the birds. The feeding enlarges the livers and the corn-rich feed turns it a pale pink. Without this method, foie gras as we know and love, would not exist. To read more about it, learn How Foie Gras Is Made.

So what has changed now?

Foie gras still can’t be produced within the state, nor can it be sold. But due to foie gras producers OUTSIDE of the state – like in New York – claiming that they had lost 1/3 of their sales due to the ban, a judge reconsidered and now allows foie gras to be brought into the state, provided that it is sold by an out of state producer and the transaction made by a third party vendor, like Gourmet Food Store.

This means you can buy foie gras online and have it shipped to California, but you can’t resell the item – stores can’t sell it and neither can restaurants – even if it’s a free item on the menu. Selling foie gras within the state of California is illegal, but home consumption is totally legal. That means you can buy your whole lobes, your slices, and even foie gras morsels, and cook and savor at home to your foodie heart’s content.