NYC will ban restaurants and grocery stores from selling foie gras

Epicures searching for foie gras in New York City will have to look elsewhere starting in 2022.

New York will ban restaurants and grocery stores from selling foie gras, after the bill passed the city council Wednesday. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office confirmed to CNN in an email that he will sign the bill into law.

The ban comes amid increasing scrutiny on foie gras. The bill calls the luxury good a “force-fed product” and, in a statement to CNN, councilwoman Carlina Rivera — the prime sponsor of the bill — called force-feeding an “inhumane practice.”

“As a lifelong advocate for animal rights, I am excited that the Council has voted to pass this historic legislation to ban the sale of these specific force-fed animal products,” Rivera stated.

And for those who try to sell the item despite the ban? They’ll be facing a civic penalty upwards of $2,000 for each violation.

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This isn’t the first foie gras ban

Foie gras has long been a point of debate.

In 2012, California’s foie gras ban went into effect, only to have the ban overturned in 2015. Then, in 2017, the ban was upheld by a circuit court judge — a decision that was backed by the Supreme Court in January of 2019.

Chicago’s history with the ban is almost equally as tumultuous. The Chicago City Council passed the ban in 2006, only to lift it two years later.

What makes foie gras so contentious is the method of preparation. Foie gras is made of fattened duck or goose liver, and it has long been considered a French delicacy — so much that the country has