LOS ANGELES - A federal judge says California's ban on foie gras can stay in place while a lawsuit seeking to block enforcement of the law that ended the force-feeding of ducks in the state moves forward.

U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson in Los Angeles refused Wednesday to issue an injunction against the ban. Wilson already had denied an emergency temporary restraining order a group of restaurateurs and foie gras producers requested as part of their July 3 lawsuit.

The suit alleges the law is written so broadly that it also applies to skins, feathers for down jackets and other byproducts of ducks raised for the delicacy, and violates the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause by affecting companies from outside the state.

In approving the ban, the Legislature said tube-feeding ducks to engorge their livers is cruel.