The Brazilian city of Sao Paulo has just taken an about face on its stance regarding Foie Gras, the French delicacy made from the livers of force-fed ducks and geese. Last week, city judge Sergio Rui ordered that a recently passed law outlawing the production and sale of the food item be suspended after local restaurant owners and proprietors voiced strong objections toward the decision.
The law was passed in late June by Mayor Fernando Haddad and was supposed to have come into effect 45 days after that, which would place the supposed start date around the second week of August. Under the new rules, any restaurant caught serving or producing Foie Gras would be subject to a fine of 5,000 Brazilian Reals (Approx. $1,600).
Lawmakers cited animal cruelty as the main reason to strike the food from local kitchens. Making Foie Gras involves force-feeding geese to fatten their livers to larger than usual sizes. In June, the bill's author Laercio Benko said: "Foie gras is an appetizer for the wealthy. It does not benefit human health and to make it, the birds are submitted to a lot of suffering."
According to CTV News, the Brazilian Association of Culinary Professionals were the driving force behind the laws' suspension. The organization defended Foie Gras as a "cultural tool of world gastronomy' and said that banning it would blemish Sao Paulo's reputation as a global culinary destination.
When the law was passed, some of the city's biggest chefs quickly voiced their displeasure at the ruling.
Michelin-starred chef Alex Atala, The man behind DOM; perhaps the city's most highly regarded restaurant, slammed the ruling saying: "How can a city regulate what a person eats? Where will it all end?"
His fellow Sao Paulo chef Renato Carioni of the restaurant Cosi also had harsh words for the new law calling it "ridiculous and hypocritical" when speaking to local newspaper O'Globo.
