# Dear FDA: Burns Day Approaches. I want Haggis. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399 "2015-01-09T15:02:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/1 "2015-01-09T15:02:19Z")
The FDA still bans sheep lungs as food, a ban dating back to the 1970s. This means that haggis made here in the U.S. is not REAL haggis. I protest. For Burns Day 2015, I want real haggis, the great chieftain of the sausage race, to accompany “Ode to a Haggis.” ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/2 "2015-01-09T15:16:51Z")
Interesting. I wonder why they decided that lungs aren’t food. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/3 "2015-01-09T15:57:22Z")
Can the real thing be imported? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/4 "2015-01-09T15:58:00Z")
Buy a sheep. Butcher it yourself. Problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/5 "2015-01-09T16:01:00Z")
No. Sheep’s lungs are on the list of things that cannot be imported into the US as a result of the bovine spongiform encephalitis scares and the USDA has said that even if the ban were lifted, apparently FSIS has ruled that lungs aren’t food and it still wouldn’t be allowed. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/6 "2015-01-09T16:10:30Z")
I don’t know why anybody would buy haggis. I make my own better and cheaper (and authentic). Like **DrCube** said. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/7 "2015-01-09T16:26:18Z")
I’ve heard tell that if a sheep’s lung cannot be had, a suitably distressed bagpipe can be substituted. ---
**Author:** ![Idilia\_Dubb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c2a13f/32.png) [@Idilia\_Dubb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idilia_Dubb)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/8 "2015-01-09T16:41:56Z")
Here ya go: [http://www.thehaggis.com/EZ/sh/sh/page14.php](http://www.thehaggis.com/EZ/sh/sh/page14.php) I once got a haggis sent from Canada for a Burns Nicht party. Don’t know if it had lung in it. Nobody ate it. They drank the whiskey though. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/9 "2015-01-09T16:42:37Z")
I had a haggis once from a food truck in the park on some kind of “International Day”. It looked and tasted exactly like a really bland bratwurst. ☹ Is this something like raw milk, where if you know a sheep farmer you can make the transaction, drug deal style, with cash, in person? Or is it completely, 100% illegal? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/10 "2015-01-09T17:03:41Z")
> [@Idilia\_Dubb](#): > > Here ya go: [http://www.thehaggis.com/EZ/sh/sh/page14.php](http://www.thehaggis.com/EZ/sh/sh/page14.php) > > I once got a haggis sent from Canada for a Burns Nicht party. Don’t know if it had lung in it. Nobody ate it. They drank the whiskey though. From your link: > [@](#): > > Stahly Quality Foods regret that orders to the USA and Canada cannot be shipped from Scotland. If you are located in the USA or Canada please order direct from Camwrap. Camwrap ([www.camwrap.net](http://www.camwrap.net)) is the U.S. distributor for Stahly Quality Foods. Camwrap doesn’t sell haggis. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/11 "2015-01-09T17:04:56Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I don’t know why anybody would buy haggis. I make my own better and cheaper (and authentic). Like **DrCube** said. Where do you get the lung? You seriously buy and butcher a sheep? You’re paying $250 just to get sheep’s lung? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/12 "2015-01-09T17:10:35Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Where do you get the lung? You seriously buy and butcher a sheep? You’re paying $250 just to get sheep’s lung? There are plenty of halal butchers around here who will sell you a whole sheep. Do they remove the lungs first? That would seem…odd. ---
**Author:** ![Idilia\_Dubb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c2a13f/32.png) [@Idilia\_Dubb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idilia_Dubb)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/13 "2015-01-09T17:17:05Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > From your link: > Camwrap doesn’t sell haggis. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/14 "2015-01-09T17:41:27Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > There are plenty of halal butchers around here who will sell you a whole sheep. Do they remove the lungs first? That would seem…odd. Yes, they remove all the internal organs, as a general rule. You typically get legs of lamb, bone-in; shoulders, ditto; loins; cutlets; chops; and steaks / ground meat. You can ask for heart, kidneys, and/or liver. They don’t sell lungs, stomach, etc. Why odd? ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/15 "2015-01-09T17:51:40Z")
I see an important “business trip” in your future, possibly across a large expanse of water. I’m seeing numbers, no wait, letters… the letters GLA, no no, EDI. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/16 "2015-01-09T17:53:21Z")
Read between the lines on [this page](http://www.willowhawkfarm.com/about_custom_cut.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/17 "2015-01-09T17:56:50Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > I see an important “business trip” in your future, possibly across a large expanse of water. > > I’m seeing numbers, no wait, letters… the letters GLA, no no, EDI. Yup, been there, done that. Only it was LHR, then a train to the city served by GLA. But that seems even more expensive than buying and butchering my own sheep. But admittedly less messy. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/18 "2015-01-09T18:26:45Z")
**Bricker** , I can’t tell from your posts if you’ve ever had “real” Haggis. Have you? ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/19 "2015-01-09T18:28:56Z")
In that case my friend you only have one recourse. You’re going to have to get your hands dirty and delve into the murky depths of the so-called “tartan net”. Be careful though, deal with the wrong chookter and you’ll likely end up with something cut with prime rib – nasty stuff. Drop my name and ask for Jimmy. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/20 "2015-01-09T19:38:57Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > **Bricker** , I can’t tell from your posts if you’ve ever had “real” Haggis. Have you? Yes. I had real haggis in Glasgow. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399.md?page=2)