Chicago overturns ban on foie gras

CHICAGO, May 14 (UPI) -- The city of Chicago Wednesday overturned its controversial ban on foie gras, a liver pate delicacy some say requires inhumane treatment of geese to produce.

The Chicago City Council voted 37-6 to reverse a 2-year-old ordinance forbidding the serving of foie gras in city restaurants, a measure that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley opposed and said had made the city look foolish in the eyes of the world.

The vote to overturn the foie gras ban came over the strenuous objections of its author, Alderman Joe Moore, who tried to halt the vote but was ruled out of order by Daley, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Moore denounced Daley's maneuver as dictatorial.

"Even in the ugliest days of one-man rule, members of the City Council still had the opportunity to ... state their case," Moore told the newspaper. "For the mayor to fail to recognize me to debate the merits of this issue was the height of arrogance."

Daley said the foie gras ban was meaningless because restaurant owners were finding ways around it. HE also questioned whether it was the city's role to police what types of food are acceptable.