Without Sheep's Lung, U.S. Ban On Haggis Could Lift

Authentic Scottish haggis is currently banned in the U.S., but that could change if producers in Scotland tweak the recipe to exclude one main ingredient — sheep's lung.

Haggis is a Scottish delicacy dating back centuries that contains ground or finely chopped sheep's heart, liver, and lungs mixed with minced onion, oatmeal, beef or mutton suet, spices, and salt and boiled in either sausage casings or a sheep's stomach.

It was banned in the U.S. in 1971 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture because of the inclusion of lungs, believed to be a health risk. Scottish officials want to see thie ban overturned because they believe that haggis could be well received by Americans, especially in this age of "nose to tail" eating.

"If we managed to get [haggis] into that market, that would create jobs back here in Scotland and millions of pounds to the Scottish economy," Richard Loccead, Scotland's rural affairs secretary, told The Daily Mail.

It's unclear whether haggis producers in Scotland would be willing to alter their time-honored recipe, but several firms already make haggis in the U.S. without the ingredient.