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Foie Gras Process


Carolyn Tillie

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Food safety concerns? That doesn't seem to pass the smell test, especially as there are no specific allegations in this article. If anyone knows of any specific allegations as to how "sanitation systems failed to meet U.S. standards," please post them in this thread.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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This is bullshit. Bullshit I say!!

As buddy-buddy as Bush is with US agribusiness, my guess is that he's doing this solely to eliminate competition for US meatpackers. "[don't] conform with U.S. food safety requirements" my eye! US meatpackers don't conform with those requirements either.

I'm so mad I could picket!

Don Moore

Nashville, TN

Peace on Earth

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"The bans would have only a minor impact on U.S. consumers, said John Roberts, president of the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, based in New York City, which includes sellers of imported foods.

``Most of the fresh foie gras (Americans) have been consuming has probably been coming out of the New York Hudson Valley anyhow,'' Roberts said. ``As to the cold cuts, I'm not recalling a lot of French cold cuts being part of my regular life here in the United States."

YOu do have to wonder, though, how much of this food banning business has to do with making some point not necessarily related to safety. At the height of the BSE scare, dozens of countries banned imports of Canadian beef. I'd be surprised if most of them had ever imported a single sirloin steak. But the beauty of joining such highly publicized bans is it gives a government an opportunity to look like it is actually doing something, without actually spending any money, or, really, doing anything.

Arthur Johnson, aka "fresco"
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But the beauty of joining such highly publicized bans is it gives a government an opportunity to look like it is actually doing something, without actually spending any money, or, really, doing anything.

And score minor diplomatic bargaining chips that can be used in negotiating other issues; i.e. food bans can be removed in exchange for other trade concessions.

"I think it's a matter of principle that one should always try to avoid eating one's friends."--Doctor Dolittle

blog: The Institute for Impure Science

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It's typical tit-for-tat. I think Moopheus has this right. I don't know that the administration is necessarily doing the wrong thing here, though. I'm pretty sick of the EU using any excuse to ban American imports whether they are an actual risk or not.

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Ugh. Curiouser and curiouser. Yesterday it was my bedroom, today it's my dinner. I shudder to think what tomorrow will bring.

:angry:

Jamie

i regret to inform you that your ass-wiping technique has failed to comply with federal standards. please report to the nearest clearing-center for re-orientation.

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I'm pretty sick of the EU using any excuse to ban American imports whether they are an actual risk or not.

Do you feel like they do that more than the U.S. does?

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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It's dangerous for anyone to point the finger when talking about the ethics of trade restrictions. We were quick to jump at banning beef from Europe when BSE was discovered there and quick to complain when other countries banned US beef after it was discovered here, yet we may not be atypical in our hypocrisy.

The suspension affects imports of "all French processed meat and poultry products, including cold cuts and delicacies like foie gras." "The measure concerns only processed products, not ordinary cuts of beef, pork or poultry" That would seem to indicate that pate de foie gras is banned, but not fresh foie gras from France. That's going to affect what appears on the shelves of your gourmet shoppes, but not what appears on the table of the very best restaurants in the country. I doubt that the very best restaurants are using very much pre-prepared foie gras. Those who are slicing packaged foie gras would be better off serving a good homemade country pate anyway, in my opinion. I suspect the very best restaurants who are serving fresh foie gras, whether from Hudson Valley, Sonoma, Quebec or imported from France are using the scraps for forcemeat as well. Only those restaurants who are using preprocessed imported foie gras in their recipes will suffer along with consumers who buy the packaged products. Most places using fresh foie gras were using domestic foies anyway.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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At least reading the article, I now have one answer to my friends who raised the kosher turkeys and may be losing their business because they weren't able to get enough baby turkeys. Maybe this year they will. France has been buying up abt. 800,000 a year.

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I'm pretty sick of the EU using any excuse to ban American imports whether they are an actual risk or not.

Do you feel like they do that more than the U.S. does?

No, not saying that. Just trying to point out that we're not the only ones and it's a game that might be reasonable to play.

Personally, I believe in saying screw it and just letting it in unless there truly is a serious issue. I believe that protectionism hurts your own country in the long run (and often in the short run). Look at the Japanese beef restaurants who have been hurt by the ban on American beef. Suddenly it got a lot more expensive for the average person to eat beef in Japan. Didn't help those people any. Limiting competition is just an opportunity for companies to price gouge or become complacent.

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Limiting competition is just an opportunity for companies to price gouge or become complacent.

...which makes the companies happy, which makes their lobbyists happy, which makes candidates' campaign coffers really, really happy, which is why "limiting competition" isn't always seen as a threat to a free market economy....

amanda

Googlista

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Hmmm.

Looks to be impacting D'Artagnan here, some French produced Items not in stock:

Foie Gras Fresh

But not here, as I believe all of their prepared Foie Gras is produced in house (from domestic supplies?):

Foie Gras Prepared

Edited by Steve Ramsey (log)

Not to be confused with egullet veteran Ms. Ramsey

Webmaster, rivitman's daily axe:

My Webpage

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It's just so - messed up. I keep trying to make excuses to people for the annoying images of wine being poured out into the streets, etc. saying it's not true, it's staged, that many Americans love France and French products will of course continue to buy French products. After reading an article about fromages.com being boycotted I wrote them a letter of support, and they were happy to say that sales were not affected. I was so happy when the mayor of Carrboro, North Carolina proclaimed it French Product Month and they had all kinds of special promotions on French products... Now, it seems that people are not going to be given a choice anymore. This is clear proof of political corruption and no one can say otherwise. I'm really really upset about this. I can't really put a finger on it, I mean nasty words have been exchanged in the press, and I've always blamed sensationalism for it, I guess I was holding out with the hope that, that we could trust somehow against politics corrupting the agencies and services that are meant to serve the people in an impartial way and protect people instead of serve political interests. Clearly if this can happen, any big industry can pay one of these wet noodles to swing in the other direction. It makes me question the validity of any and all inspections. I am losing faith. It makes my country look so out of control, and dumb. It stings. I am so so upset about this.

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Some D'Artagnan products are also available via amazon, for the same, or lower, prices -- click the link at the bottom of the page and search for foie gras. Or, click some of the links below:

B0000TK55Q.01-A2TYCYZUO9EQ9V.TZZZZZZZ.jpg Whole Lobe of Goose Foie Gras from Dean and Deluca, $160, 1.8 lb, imported from France.
B0001DHJF0.01-A10YROEO6ALU9X.TZZZZZZZ.jpg Canadian Whole Lobe Of Fresh Goose Foie Gras (Goose Liver), $93.74, 1.9 lb, flash frozen, vacuum packed
B00017JIJQ.01-A10YROEO6ALU9X.TZZZZZZZ.jpg Block Of Goose Foie Gras by Rougie, $31.46, 5.10oz from Gourmet Food Store, "Produit de France."

Many other products available in Amazon's Gourmet Food department, including a $720 tin (for over 2 lbs) of truffled goose foie gras pate!

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It's just so - messed up. I keep trying to make excuses to people for the annoying images of wine being poured out into the streets, etc. saying it's not true, it's staged, that many Americans love France and French products will of course continue to buy French products. After reading an article about fromages.com being boycotted I wrote them a letter of support, and they were happy to say that sales were not affected. I was so happy when the mayor of Carrboro, North Carolina proclaimed it French Product Month and they had all kinds of special promotions on French products... Now, it seems that people are not going to be given a choice anymore. This is clear proof of political corruption and no one can say otherwise. I'm really really upset about this. I can't really put a finger on it, I mean nasty words have been exchanged in the press, and I've always blamed sensationalism for it, I guess I was holding out with the hope that, that we could trust somehow against politics corrupting the agencies and services that are meant to serve the people in an impartial way and protect people instead of serve political interests. Clearly if this can happen, any big industry can pay one of these wet noodles to swing in the other direction. It makes me question the validity of any and all inspections. I am losing faith. It makes my country look so out of control, and dumb. It stings. I am so so upset about this.

Well, the people boycotting French products etc (I have a cousin like this) never bought French products to begin with.

The people who love French products (such as wine, cheeses, vodka, etc) are (IMO) very, very unlikely to quit.

Hell, even laws against items like raw milk Camembert are routinely broken, and the US government, to their credit, does seem to take a "turn the other cheek" attitude most of the time in regards to minor, harmless infractions.

Don Moore

Nashville, TN

Peace on Earth

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There'll be much smuggling from Canada to the U.S. I think.

As well as the French faggoty farce stuff in speciality shops, raw milk camembert etc are available in our bloody big grocery chain stores.

Bwahahahaha.

Oh and absinthe is legal too.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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