California

Chefs Say Death Threats Have Followed Foie Gras

Serving the once-forbidden food has earned some chefs death threats.

A Napa Valley chef is one of the California restauranteurs who have been receiving death threats since last week.

The crime? Serving foie gras, according to reports.

Ken Frank of La Toque says that emails and other messages have threatened him with a punishment similar to gavage  the process by which ducks and geese whose livers are made into foie gras are force-fed -- or other painful ways of dying, the Huffington Post reported.

Frank and other chefs say they've reported the threats to the FBI.

A state ban dating from 2012 on serving the controversial dish was overturned by a judge last week. Prior to that, some chefs dodged the ban by giving away foie gras as a "gift" to accompany some pricey dishes.

Foie gras still cannot be produced in California, according to KQED.

Animal activists with People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, who stridently oppose lifting of the ban, say they are "skeptical" of the threats' veracity.

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