It's been a good week for … haggis
It's been a good week for … haggis
Amidst the pressing concerns on the agenda in the House Of Lords, the humble haggis was a hot topic. A Tory peer has called for the US import ban on the famous pudding to be lifted.
The US Food and Drug Administration forbids the import of some of haggis' constituent ingredients, which means, Lord McColl of Dulwich told his fellow peers, that 24 million American Scots were being denied "this wholesome food".
He claimed haggis "satisfied hunger very much more than the junk food which Americans consume". A surgeon and former shadow health minister, who was also a parliamentary aide to former prime minister Sir John Major, he believes haggis consumption would help the US to deal with its "obesity epidemic".
Notwithstanding all that suet, the Haggis Diet is now bound to be the latest weight-loss fad. Perfect if your hurdies are like a distant hill.
It's been a bad week for … haggis
Labour peer and professor Lord Winston expressed disagreement over the health-promoting qualities of haggis and said he finds the dish "revolting".
Winston also suggested that if haggis could deal with obesity then "maybe we should be promoting it a little bit in Glasgow", which was a blow well below the (admittedly often straining) belt.
The comments come as David Cameron begins two days of talks with President Barack Obama in Washington. Liberal Democrat peer Lord Purvis urged Cameron to have "a private word with the president" to ensure the "ridiculous" ban is lifted.
The Food Minister, Lord de Mauley, said he could not guarantee a rapid resolution, but said the European Union and UK Government were working to get import bans lifted by the US.
Conservative peer Lord Forsyth suggested that the UK Government could send a special envoy to the US, joking that the former first minister Alex Salmond was looking for a job.
Authentic Scottish haggis has been banned in the US since 1971, when the US Department of Agriculture first took umbrage over one of its main ingredients - sheep's lung.
The ban means those in the US who want to celebrate Burns Night in the traditional manner on January 25 must improvise, which is an offal shame.
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