Off The Gourmet Shelves

By Lisa McLaughlin Monday, Sept. 13, 2004
    • Caviar, foie gras and some other luxury food items may soon be harder to come by. It's not the scarcity or the cost; it's the proliferation of regulatory roadblocks. A look at some recent snafus at the gourmet counter.

    CASPIAN CAVIAR
    Supplies have been slowed while a U.N. agency, concerned about the endangered sturgeon, decides on export quotas

    AU REVOIR TO FOIE GRAS?
    An outcry over animal cruelty has led to proposed legislation in California that would outlaw production and sale of the fatted duck and goose livers

    ENDANGERED BRIE
    Regulations on unpasteurized cheese are more strictly enforced, aimed at barring European raw-milk cheeses less than 60 days old as a health risk

    TOTAL YOGURT
    Has been pulled off shelves until its Greek maker can get U.S. state inspectors to come to Greece