# 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:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/21 "2015-01-09T19:57:15Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > 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? We’ve purchased a number of whole sheep from a local Halal butcher, and we’ve gotten everything except for the feet. We get the meat in one set of bags, the stomach and intestines in a separate bag, the organs (heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys) in a third, a the skull in a fourth. I don’t know if it makes a difference, but we asked to have them chopped up for dog food, rather than cut up into ‘steaks’ and such. These were older ewes that were raised for wool, and were too old to breed or produce good wool so needed to be culled. We’ve also gotten whole lambs from the same source, for our own consumption; I don’t recall if we got all of the organs for those or not. Now that I think of it, I’m not sure why we don’t get the feet… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/22 "2015-01-09T19:59:38Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > 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. Interesting. I’m 100% sure I’ve seen lungs for sale at my local supermarket–not sheep, but I believe beef or possibly pork. But apparently the ban is on all livestock lungs. Hmm… (And I did find it on the menu [here](http://www.allmenus.com/il/chicago/363682-my-place/menu/).) I wonder what the scoop is. Is it just for import? ---
**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, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/23 "2015-01-09T20:10:43Z")
I have no idea. Everything I know I learned from [this article](http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2011/01/23/haggis-inedible-says-us-government/). Is there a customer complaint line or something for the FDA? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/24 "2015-01-09T20:19:35Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I have no idea. Everything I know I learned from [this article](http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2011/01/23/haggis-inedible-says-us-government/). Is there a customer complaint line or something for the FDA? Yeah, that article doesn’t make it clear and it seems to me that it is implying that it’s the importation of sheep’s lungs that is the problem. Although other sources seem to say that it’s just plain illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399/25 "2015-01-09T20:36:27Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > 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. This thread is making me queasy overall, but the word ‘spongiform’ sends shivers down my spine. From ‘So I Married an Axe Murderer’ **Harriet Michaels** : Do you actually like haggis? **Charlie Mackenzie** : No, I think it’s repellent in every way. In fact, I think most Scottish cuisine is based on a dare. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fda-burns-day-approaches-i-want-haggis/709399.md?page=1)