One of Britain's leading retailers, House of Fraser, has decided on ethical grounds to stop selling the luxury foodstuff foie gras. The department store chain, which has over 150 years of retailing experience, will no longer stock foie gras in any form at any of its food outlets.
Foie gras production has long been on the hit list of animal rights campaigners and the move by House of Fraser to ban sales of the product - which is one of the most popular delicacies in French cuisine - is much applauded.
Foie gras (which literally means 'fatty liver') is controversially made by force-feeding geese or ducks until their livers swell to 6-10 times their normal size. The process involves pneumatic pumps, which force huge quantities of corn mash into the birds through a tube placed in the animal's oesophagus. Force-feeding usually takes place some 12-14 days before the animals are slaughtered and can lead to diseases such as liver haemorrhages, jaundice and fibrosis. The practice is believed by animal rights and welfare organisations and activists to inflict much suffering on the animals - even breathing and walking becomes difficult afterwards - and it has been suggested it would soon kill them were they not slaughtered.
Animal rights campaigners Advocates for Animals' Director Ross Minett said of the news: "We congratulate House of Fraser on its ethical decision. There can be no other system of farming in which animals are deliberately raised to become deformed and diseased. An EU-wide ban on force-feeding is overdue. Until that time any efforts to reduce consumption on foie gras in the UK are surely to be welcomed. We urge other stores to follow this example by keeping foie gras off their shelves."
House of Fraser's new policy to end the sale of foie gras has been followed closely by (or has come at the same time as) that of other major stores, including Harvey Nichols, Waitrose, Sainsburys and Lidl.
Former James Bond star Sir Roger Moore recently spoke out about foie gras and even wrote a letter to Members of Parliament describing the "cruel" process involved in producing the food and encouraging a ban throughout the UK.
To read Advocates for Animals' and World Society for the Protection of Animals's report, Forced Feeding: An enquiry into the welfare of the ducks and geese kept for the production of foie gras, go to http://www.advocatesforanimals.org/pdf/FoieGras.pdf
To see House of Fraser's ethical sourcing policy, see http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/corporate/corporate_governance/corporate_governance.asp
To find your nearest House of Fraser store with a food hall see http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk To sign up for further information on House of Fraser's new online shop see http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/shop/
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