Amazon agreed to pay $100,000 and not to sell force-fed foie gras in California under a consumer protection settlement reached with the district attorney’s offices of Los Angeles, Monterey and Santa Clara counties, it was announced Friday.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said the $100,000 settlement, which was approved by a judge on Thursday, will go toward civil penalties, investigative costs and restitution to a state trust fund used to enforce consumer protection laws stemming from allegations of unlawful sales of foie gras — a French delicacy made from the fattened livers of force-fed ducks and geese.
A state law enacted in 2012 banned the sale of foie gras in California, but it was challenged in Los Angeles federal court by an association of foie gras producers in New York and Canada, along with a Hermosa Beach restaurant operator, who argued that the measure was vaguely written and interfered with state commerce. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on whether to review the matter is still pending.
Upon being contacted by prosecutors about the sale of foie gras to customers in California, Amazon took immediate steps to stop such sales and continued to block sales of foie gras during the lengthy appellate process, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
— City News Service
