Chicago lifts ban on foie gras

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Chicago on Wednesday overturned its two-year ban on foie gras, the delicacy made from the fattened livers of ducks and geese, the Chicago Tribune reported. The ban, slipped into a routine City Council vote in 2006, earned the city international attention: admiration from animal rights groups and ire from the culinary world.

Reaction to the repeal was swift. Relieved chefs, including Christophe Pouy, above, celebrated, and began preparing the controversial dish in time for dinner last night.

Chef Didier Durand, who led the fight against the ban, told the Tribune, ‘We’re going to paint the town with foie gras.’

Animal rights groups, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, decried the reversal, calling it ‘dirty political maneuvering’ by the food industry and saying the city was ‘right the first time in banning this hideously cruel product.’

-- Tony Barboza