Business & Tech
Don't Try Ordering Foie Gras On Amazon
The company will adhere to a 2012 California law, plus it will pay a civil penalty.
CALIFORNIA — Retail giant Amazon.com has agreed to continue banning online sales of foie gras to California residents because of a state law outlawing the delicacy.
The company is also shelling out $96,000 in civil payments after allegations that it illegally sold foie gras to California buyers in 2012 and 2013.
News of the settlement is the latest development in a long legal saga that started in 2004, when then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning the sale and production of foie gras.
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The law went into effect in 2012, though it's been hampered by legal challenges ever since.
Supporters of the law believe force-feeding, the technique by which the geese are fattened up, is cruel to the animals. "In addition to the pain caused by having metal pipes forced down their throats, force-feeding damages the livers of the birds so badly it induces an extremely painful disease known as hepatic lipidosis," Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo said in an announcement regarding the settlement.
Find out what's happening in Lamorindafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Restaurateurs and foie gras producers disagree, and the ban is currently not being enforced while those involved in the litigation wait to hear if the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the case.
If the court declines, the ban will go into effect again.
In the meantime, district attorneys in Monterey, Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties decided to take action against Amazon.
The prosecutors filed a complaint on Nov. 13 alleging that Amazon knew about the ban in 2012 and 2013 but continued to sell the animal product online.
Court records show the company agreed to the $96,000 settlement last Thursday. An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment further.
Court records show that the settlement money will be split between the three counties.
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— Bay City News; Image by Renee Schiavone, Patch
