Encouraging local retailers not to stock the controversial pate, foie gras, is one of the options being considered by members of City of York Council's Executive later this month.

The idea is one of a number put forward in response to a motion to full council earlier this year, when councillors were asked to:

·Instruct the chief executive to write to Ben Bradshaw MP, Minister of State responsible for Animal Welfare, informing him of this motion and asking for the production and sale of foie gras to be banned in the UK;
·Do as much as reasonably possible to discourage or prohibit the sale of foie gras within the authority area, whether in shops or restaurants.

The council's legal team has confirmed that there are no legal powers that would allow the council to prohibit the sale of foie gras in York, however, a number of options have been put forward including:
- writing to Lord Rooker, the minister for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health, encouraging the creation of legislation to ban the production and sale of foie gras
- to prohibit the procurement of foie gras in the council's own establishments - to put a link on the council's website to 'Compassion in World Farming'
- to write to all registered food businesses that operate in York explaining the council's ethical position on foie gras

Members will be asked to approve all, some or none of the above options at a meeting of the Executive on Tuesday 25 September.