Haggis may surpass US marketing ban – with a slight recipe tweak
The Scots may soon be able to restart haggis exports to the US if a Scottish delegation to the States proves successful.
Haggis, which has been banned in the country since 1971 due to a restriction on sheep lungs, is a Scottish national delicacy and could make a resurgence in the US if producers were to tweak the recipe.
Richard Lochhead, the Scottish rural affairs secretary spearheading the delegation, was looking at ways to get the dish of the US blacklist, claiming haggis “satisfies hunger very much more than the junk food the Americans consume”.
Speaking ahead of the visit, Lochhead said: “It may be that we have to tweak the recipe for haggis to get into the US market, because some of the ingredients – such as sheep lungs – have been banned since 1971.
“But I think our own producers here in Scotland are up for tweaking the recipe so that US customers can still get as close as possible to the real thing.
“And if we managed to get into that market that would create jobs back here in Scotland and millions of pounds for the Scottish economy.”
Haggis sales contribute £15m to the UK economy annually, a figure which would be significantly higher if the US trade embargo was lifted.