Document type: article published by The Animal Law, Ethics and Science Foundation (LFDA)
Author: LFDA
Preview: A biological reality that is not compatible with animal health
As the holiday season approaches, foie gras takes center stage in French cuisine and in the collective imagination. Often presented as an exceptional product associated with conviviality and tradition, it is even undergoing a sharp commercial uptick. In the first half of 2025, sales of foie gras in supermarkets jumped by 55% in volume compared to 2024, according to industry data. However, this strong return to popularity, which has received extensive coverage in terms of the market, conceals a much less obvious reality in terms of production conditions and their effects on the animals involved. Underlying this commercial success story is a particular practice, that of force-feeding, without which foie gras would not exist. Every year in France, nearly 30 million ducks and geese are subjected to this process. Foie gras is legally defined as the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened by force-feeding, a reminder that it is not a natural product, but the result of deliberate human intervention intended to cause extreme hypertrophy of the liver. The available scientific data is unequivocal. 'Foie gras' is not normal liver. Force-feeding leads to pathological hepatic steatosis, characterized by the massive enlargement of a liver saturated with fat, accompanied by cellular change that is incompatible with a state of health. This pathology brings about significant metabolic disturbances and a change in the animal's essential physiological functions. It cannot in any way be equated with a simple process of fattening comparable to those that might be observed under natural conditions. The process of force-feeding also induces a series of instances of suffering that have been documented. Force-feeding, carried out using a tube inserted into the oesophagus, causes acute stress, mechanical damage to the oesophagus and crop, and behavioral disorders. The excessive increase in liver volume compresses the internal organs, causing breathing difficulties, chronic fatigue, locomotor disorders, and overall physiological distress. These findings are supported by robust scientific analysis and a number of official European reports on animal welfare.
The myth of natural behavior
From an ethological point of view, the argument frequently put forward by the foie gras industry, and sometimes repeated by public authorities, that force-feeding reproduces natural pre-migratory behavior, does not stand up to scrutiny. The ducks used for foie gras production in France are mainly Mulard ducks, a crossbreed that is sedentary and does not migrate. Such ducks do not therefore have any natural behavior where they would build their energy reserves in preparation for migration. Forcing them to eat large amounts of food does not meet any biological or behavioral need. When it comes to geese, the comparison is equally misleading. In some species of wild geese, it is true that a slight fattening of the liver can be observed before migration, but this remains limited and generally does not exceed a doubling of the liver's size. Such fattening remains compatible with normal health and the animal's ability to fly. By contrast, force-feeding as practised in foie gras production can result in a liver up to ten times larger than its original size, a state that would prevent a bird from flying and clearly indicates ill health. The argument that this follows natural behavior is therefore a rhetorical construct with no serious scientific basis.
French uniqueness or a denial of reality
From a legal standpoint, foie gras production is particularly paradoxical. European law on the protection of farm animals is based on clear general principles, notably those set out in Directive 98/58/EC, which requires farmers to take all reasonable measures to ensure the welfare of animals and avoid unnecessary or avoidable suffering. This text, like other European instruments, recognizes that animals are sentient beings whose biological and behavioral needs must be respected. However, no European directive explicitly forbids force-feeding. Several countries have nevertheless decided to ban the practice, including Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Poland. Outside Europe, the courts have also taken a position on these grounds. In the United States, the State of California has banned force-feeding and the sale of foie gras produced by force-feeding, on the grounds that the practice constitutes cruelty to animals. The situation in France would appear all the more non-normative, given that foie gras enjoys symbolic and legal recognition as part of the country's cultural and gastronomic heritage. However, this recognition does not alter the biological reality of force-feeding or the general legal principles applicable to animal protection.
To overcome culturally embedded views, a clear and rigorously referenced booklet entitled Le foie gras, une gourmandise au prix de la souffrance (Foie gras, a delicacy built on suffering) has been published by the LFDA to answer key questions about force-feeding, regulations, and the ethical issues raised by this method of production. Based on scientific studies and institutional sources, it sets out to provide the French public with comprehensive and accessible information. A paper version can also be ordered. (...)
Link to the report (pdf)
