Haggis Unavailable to Tartan Army Fans in the US
As Scottish supporters travel to the United States for the World Cup, one traditional Scottish dish will remain inaccessible: haggis. The delicacy has been prohibited in the US since the early 1970s because it contains sheep's lungs, an ingredient banned from food products sold in the country.
Alternatives to traditional haggis exclude lungs, substituting additional heart or liver instead. Nevertheless, Scottish butchers are using the football tournament as an opportunity to advocate for lifting the ban and reintroducing authentic haggis to the US market.
Reasons Behind the US Ban on Haggis
On 17 June 1971, the US Code of Federal Regulations declared:
"Livestock lungs shall not be saved for use as human food."This regulation was based on a December 1969 study by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which examined several hundred random samples of beef lungs. Inspectors found that 93.5% of these samples exhibited various abnormal conditions, including contamination with fluids such as stomach acid.
The USDA concluded that it was impractical to inspect every lung thoroughly and thus imposed a blanket ban, classifying all lungs as unfit for human consumption. This 57-year-old study remains the primary justification for the ongoing US prohibition of lungs in food products.
Because haggis traditionally includes sheep's lungs, it has been banned regardless of whether it is produced in Scotland or the United States.
The validity of the USDA's findings has been challenged by some, who note that countries like Scotland, Peru, and Mexico consume lung-containing foods without experiencing widespread illness outbreaks. Many European nations, including the UK, conduct inspections of lungs as part of food safety protocols before deeming them safe to eat.
Award-winning Perthshire butcher Simon Howie described the US regulations on haggis as
"an irritation"for his company and for millions of Americans with Scottish heritage or connections. He views the World Cup, where Scotland will face Haiti, Morocco, and Brazil, as an ideal moment to highlight the issue, stating that haggis is
"synonymous" with Scotland.
"It has always felt a bit of a nonsense,"he said.
"It's one of those quirks that has never been tackled since the early 1970s as it is a relatively low-selling product. With the World Cup there has never been a better chance to shout about it and try to get the product back on the shelves there. I know there are alternatives but I don't think they taste the same."
Haggis Variants Without Sheep's Lungs
Anne Robinson, who has operated the Scottish Gourmet USA shop since 2005, sells traditional Scottish products such as potato scones, pies, and shortbread. For haggis, she and her husband Andrew Hamilton, a chef from Inverness, have developed an alternative recipe.
"The lung product is critical to the texture,"Robinson explained.
"It keeps it crumbly as a dish, rather than clumping together. So my husband and a French pate maker we worked with spent several Sundays trying to come up with an alternative. Eventually we had a recipe that is very close to what is served in Scotland, using beef liver that serves the same function as the lung."
Robinson expressed a desire for regulatory changes that would allow authentic haggis imports.
"There is a market for it, and not just for Burns night. When I started the business in 2005 selling haggis was not on my radar, but phone calls started coming in quickly, asking 'where's the haggis'. I would love to bring in haggis from Scotland."
MacSween's butchers have also created a lung-free haggis alternative that sells well in Canada. However, James MacSween told BBC Scotland News that no agreement has yet been reached to import their product into the US.
In April, former US President Donald Trump announced the removal of tariffs and restrictions on whisky imports, enabling collaboration between Scotland and Kentucky on whisky and bourbon production.
This decision sparked political debate over credit for the outcome, but Simon Howie sees it as evidence that diplomatic efforts can yield results. He hopes a similar approach could facilitate the importation of traditional haggis into the US.
Howie has also helped launch a campaign titled No Haggis No Party, designed to draw attention to the ban. While the campaign includes humorous elements such as "Make Haggis Legal Again" baseball caps, Howie believes reviewing the legislation seriously would be beneficial.
"There needs to be a will on the other side to take a look at this and say 'what are the issues here'. You saw how good a job was done with the tariffs on whisky, in a low-key way, and we would like to think something along those lines could happen."
USDA Maintains Lung Ban Citing Lack of New Evidence
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recently responded to a 2023 petition requesting the lifting of restrictions on livestock lungs in food. The petition was supported by various scientists and academics who argued that the 1971 ruling is outdated and pointed to the absence of illness outbreaks in countries like Scotland as evidence against the ban.
However, the FSIS stated it did not find this evidence sufficient to conclude that lungs are safe for human consumption in the US. It noted:
"The 1969 study has also not been proven to be out of date because there are no more recent studies or data specifically proving that lungs are safe to eat."
The agency denied the petition without prejudice, concluding:
"While the ban on lung consumption may deprive certain Americans of access to traditional or cultural foods, FSIS has concluded that, due to the lack of evidence to refute the aforementioned 1969 USDA study, and the lack of sufficient data or studies proving that lung consumption is safe, the risk of consuming lungs outweighs the benefits."
Given the current regulatory stance, the prospect of traditional haggis returning to US shelves appears unlikely in the near future.
