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The plaintiffs argued that states can't interfere with federally approved poultry products because they're already covered by the Poultry Products Inspection Act. That law gives the federal government exclusive powers to determine what ingredients belong in poultry. The plaintiffs said it was therefore illegal for California to require foie gras to be made from birds that weren't force-fed.
"California cannot regulate foie gras products' ingredients by creatively phrasing its law in terms of the manner in which those ingredients were produced," [U.S. District Judge Stephen V.] Wilson wrote in his ruling.
Foie gras is traditionally made by sticking a tube into a fowl's throat and force feeding it corn, which causes its liver to accumulate fat deposits.
