Labour party proposes a ban on foie gras as part of new animal welfare bill

The Labour party has proposed a ban on importing foie gras as part of a new animal welfare bill released this week.

• Why is the production of foie gras illegal in the UK?

Foie gras is already illegal to produce in the UK but the policy document proposes the end of all imports of the product too, from countries such as France, Hungary and Spain.

The ban on foie gras is proposed as part of a 50 point animal welfare policy that the Labour Party submitted for public consultation on Wednesday January 14, 2018. The bill also advocates a ban on badger culling and third-party sales of puppies.

Shadow Environment Secretary Sue Hayman told the Evening Standard: "Our vision is one where no animal is made to suffer unnecessary pain and we continue to drive up standards and practice in line with the most recent advances and understanding."

What is foie gras?

Foie gras is a liver pâté made from the liver of duck or geese that have been fattened. The production of the delicacy often involves the controversial practice of force-feeding the animals, to deposit more fat in the liver.  

Foie gras and animal cruelty

Many activists believe that this force-feeding is cruel and inhumane. The RSPCA claims that the practice “can damage the birds’ throats” and warns that “birds’ livers may become 6 to 10 times the normal size and stop working properly”. 

Chefs and foie gras

American chef Anthony Bourdain has publically defended foie gras in restaurants. According to the Washington City Paper in 2010, he spoke publicly about how no ‘responsible’ chef would buy a product from a distressed animal. He was quoted to have said: “…Inarguably that kind of suffering and stress leads directly to the quality of food that we don't want."

Dan Doherty, chef director of Duck & Waffle made a similar argument to The Staff Canteen back in 2014: “Geese and ducks don't need to be force fed to make foie gras. They are naturally greedy and will