Offal Truth: Haggis May Soon Be Coming to the United States

Haggis has long been considered a savory delicacy on one side of the Atlantic, in Scotland, but its been banned in the United States since 1971. Haggis is so beloved in its country of origin, in fact, that iconic Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1786 wrote an entire ode, Address to a Haggis. And to this day, when Burns Night suppers are held to celebrate the poet’s birth in Scotland, haggis is a favored dish. Soon Americans may be able to join in the festivities.

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The USDA banned the sale of the unique Scottish dish, which consists of a sheep’s lung stuffed with chopped organ meat, oatmeal, and fats. In fact, the lungs of any livestock are banned here. The reason? Animal lungs were deemed unsafe because when the animal is slaughtered, fluids from other parts of the body, such as stomach acids, could end up trapped in the lungs, due to an acid-reflux-like reaction. Livestock lungs also have a larger presence of microorganisms and environmental toxins.

But now Scotland’s largest haggis maker, Macsween of Edinburgh, is creating a new recipe for the dish. The company, which already markets a vegetarian haggis here, plans to get around the American ban by substituting sheep heart for lung while preserving the traditional blend of spices, oatmeal, and fat. Since Robert Burns in his ode dubbed haggis as “the great chieftain of the pudding race,” Macsween expects to launch its new dish, currently in the testing phase, in time for next year’s Burns Night annual holiday, Jan. 25, 2026.

Haggis isn’t the only dish serving offal, which dictionaries define as the inedible parts removed from a butchered animal. Once upon a time, human beings ate hearts to capture the courage the organ symbolizes. Today, offal aka variety meats, figures prominently across the full spectrum of Western cuisine. Some, notably brains, liver, and tripe, have long been associated in the United States with rural cookery. Others, such as jellied tripe and pickled beef tongue cold cuts, may be stocked in urban food stores. And in the haute cuisine of Europe, variety meats star in classic dishes such as tripe à la mode de Caen.

Nutrition-wise, several of these meats are rich in vitamins, minerals, and proteins. By all counts, liver is No. 1, primarily for its plentiful vitamin A, considered beneficial for eye health and for its ability to lessen the side effects of inflammatory illnesses from Alzheimer’s to arthritis. Liver’s also a major source of iron, Vitamin B9 (folic acid, which protects a developing fetus), plus chromium, copper, and zinc.

While courage is not on the list of its nutrients, heart is rich in iron and the B-complex vitamins that protect against heart disease. Heart meat also serves up coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), an antioxidant currently promoted to slow down the aging process and reduce the side effects of cholesterol-busting statin meds.

Tripe, the tissue lining the stomach, is definitely chewy, but like heart it is mostly muscle, which means packed with protein plus plentiful iron, zinc, and vitamin B12 while relatively low in fat, with fewer calories and less artery-clogging saturated fats per ounce than the fabled sirloin.

Good as all that may be, nothing’s perfect. Organ meats do come with a few warnings. The website webmd.com notes that organ meats contain high levels of purines, nitrogen compounds the body degrades to uric acid that may contribute to the progression of joint damage for those with gout. And folks with hemochromatosis, aka iron overload disease, should limit these iron-rich meats.

Final FYI: Although they sound alike, the words awful and offal are not related. The first is plain English, the positive “awe” turned negative. The second comes from several Germanic-based words such as the Dutch afval, avfall in Norwegian and Swedish, and affald in Danish, each of which translates to “garbage or waste.”