Foie Gras Producer Loses Legal Battle

While the court may have thrown out the Animal Legal Defense Fund's (ALDF) case against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (claiming that foie gras is a "diseased product"), it looks like the ALDF might have some legal traction against Hudson Valley Foie Gras (HVFG) producers.

The U.S. District Court of Northern California has decided to keep ALDF's case against HVFG, which claims that HVFG has violated the Lanham Act and California's false advertising laws by saying their product is "the Humane Choice."

Hudson Valley had requested that the court dismiss the lawsuit, but the court denied that motion.

"The court's decision demonstrates that misleading well-intentioned consumers is actionable under the law. Consumers deserve to know the truth about the exploitation of ducks and the reality behind foie gras's force-fed lies," Stephen Wells, executive director of the ALDF, said in a press release.

This decision doesn't penalize Hudson Valley quite yet, and it probably won't affect the legality of selling foie gras in New York, but it's probably not the last time we'll hear of ALDF suing in the name of foie gras.