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Pâté de foie gras (right) with pickled pear.

Foie gras (French for "fat liver") is "the liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened by force feeding" (as defined by French law)

Connoisseurs consider foie gras one of the greatest delicacies in French cuisine and describe its flavour as rich, buttery, and delicate, unlike that of a regular duck or goose liver. Foie gras can be sold whole, or prepared into pâté, mousse, or parfait, and is typically served as an accompaniment to another comestible, such as toast points or steak.

Foie gras may date from approximately 2500 BC, when the ancient Egyptians saw a special culinary appeal in the naturally fattened livers of migratory birds, and began to deliberately fatten the birds through overfeeding; it is however unclear that the product qualifies as foie gras, since the birds were probably not force-fed. The practice gradually spread north through the Roman Empire, and then further into Europe with the Jewish migration. Today, France is by far the largest producer and consumer of foie gras, though it is produced and consumed worldwide, particularly in other European nations and the United States.

In modern foie gras production, force feeding takes place from 12−18 days before slaughter. The duck or goose is typically fed a controlled amount of corn mash through a tube placed in the animal's esophagus. Due to this force feeding procedure, and the possible health consequences of an enlarged liver, animal rights and welfare organizations and activists regard foie gras production methods as cruel to animals. Foie gras producers maintain that force feeding ducks and geese is not uncomfortable for the animals nor is it hazardous to their health. Scientific evidence regarding the animal welfare aspects of foie gras production is limited and inconclusive. Foie gras production is illegal in a number of countries and other jurisdictions.

History

A bas relief depiction of overfeeding geese

Ancient times

As early as 2500 BC, the ancient Egyptians sought the fattened livers of migratory birds as a delicacy. They soon learned that many birds could be fattened through overfeeding and began the practice of fattening geese by overfeeding them. In the necropolis of Saqqara, in the tomb of Mereruka, an important royal official, there is a bas relief scene wherein slaves grasp geese around the necks; in order to push food down their throats. At the side stand tables piled with more food pellets, probably roasted grain, and a flask for moistening the feed before giving it to the geese.

The practice of geese-fattening spread from Egypt to the Mediterranean. The earliest reference to fattened geese is from the 5th century BC Greek poet Cratinus, who wrote of geese-fatteners, yet Egypt maintained its reputation as the source for fattened geese. When the Spartan king Agesilaus visited Egypt in 361 BC, he was greeted with fattened geese and calves, the riches of Egyptian farmers.

It was not until the Roman period, however, that foie gras is mentioned as a distinct food, which the Romans named iecur ficatum; iecur means liver and ficatum derives from ficus, meaning fig in Latin. Pliny the Elder (1st century AD) credits his contemporary, Roman gastronome Marcus Gavius Apicius, with feeding dried figs to geese in order to enlarge their livers:

"Apicius made the discovery, that we may employ the same artificial method of increasing the size of the liver of the sow, as of that of the goose; it consists in cramming them with dried figs, and when they are fat enough, they are drenched with wine mixed with honey, and immediately killed."
     — Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book VIII. Chapter 77

Hence, the term iecur ficatum, fig-stuffed liver; feeding figs to enlarge a goose's liver may derive from Hellenistic Alexandria, since much of Roman luxury cuisine is of Greek inspiration. Ficatum was closely associated with animal liver and it became the root word for "liver" in each of these languages: foie in French, hígado in Spanish, fígado in Portuguese and fegato in Italian, all meaning "liver"; this etymology has been explained in different manners. The emperor Heliogabalus fed his dogs on foie gras during the four years of his chaotic reign.

Postclassical Europe

After the fall of the Roman empire, goose liver temporarily vanished from European cuisine. While it is claimed that Gallic farmers preserved the foie gras tradition until the rest of Europe rediscovered it centuries later, this theory lacks evidence, since the medieval French peasant's meats were mainly pig and sheep. More likely, the tradition was preserved by the Jews, who learned the method of enlarging a goose's liver during the Roman colonisation of Israel, or even earlier, under slavery in ancient Egypt. The Jews carried this culinary knowledge as they migrated farther north and west to Europe.

The Judaic dietary law, Kashrut, forbade lard as a cooking medium, and butter, too, was proscribed as an alternative since it also prohibited mixing meat and dairy products. Jewish cuisine used olive oil in the Mediterranean, and sesame oil in Babylonia, but neither cooking medium was easily available in Western and Central Europe, so poultry fat, which could be abundantly produced by overfeeding geese, was substituted in their stead. The delicate taste of the goose's liver soon was appreciated; witnessed by Hans Wilhelm Kirchhof of Kassel, who in 1562 wrote that the Jews raise fat geese and particularly love their livers. Some Rabbis were concerned with the kashrut dietary complications consequent to overfeeding geese, because Jewish law prohibits eating a treyf animal. The chasam sofer, Rabbi Moses Sofer, contended that it is not a treyf animal as none of its limbs is damaged. This matter remained a debated topic in Jewish dietary law until the Jewish taste for goose liver declined in the 19th century. Another kashrut matter, still a problem today, is that even properly slaughtered and inspected meat must be drained of blood before being considered fit to eat. Usually, salting achieves that; however, as liver is regarded as "(almost) wholly blood", broiling is the only way of kashering. Properly broiling a foie gras while preserving its delicate taste is an arduous endeavour few engage seriously.

Gentile gastronomes began appreciating fattened goose liver, which they could buy in the local Jewish ghetto of their cities. In 1570, Bartolomeo Scappi, chef de cuisine to Pope Pius V, published his cookbook Opera, wherein he describes that "the liver of domestic goose raised by the Jews is of extreme size and weighs two and three pounds." In 1581, Marx Rumpolt of Mainz, chef to several German nobles, published the massive cookbook Kochbuch, describing that the Jews of Bohemia produced livers weighing more than three pounds; he lists recipes for it—including one for goose liver mousse. János Keszei, chef to the court of Michael Apafi, the prince of Transylvania, included foie gras recipes in his 1680 cookbook A New Book About Cooking, instructing cooks to "envelop the goose liver in a calf's thin skin, bake it and prepare green or brown sauce to accompany it. I used goose liver fattened by Bohemian Jews, its weight was more than three pounds. You may also prepare a mush of it."

Main producers

Country Production (tons, 2005) % of total
France 18,450 78.5%
Hungary 1,920 8.2%
Bulgaria 1,500 6.4%
United States 340 (2003) 1.4%
China 150 0.6%
Others 1,140 4.9%
Total 23,500 100%

France is the leading producer and consumer of duck and goose foie gras. In 2005, the country produced 18,450 tonnes of foie gras (78.5% of the world's estimated total production of 23,500 tonnes) of which 96% was duck liver and the rest goose liver. Total French consumption of foie gras was 19,000 tonnes in 2005. Approximately 30,000 people are members of the French foie gras industry, with 90% of them residing in the Périgord (Dordogne), the Midi-Pyrénées régions in the southwest, and (Alsace). The European Union recognizes the foie gras produced according to traditional farming methods (label rouge) in southwestern France with a geographical indication of provenance.

Hungary is the world's second-greatest foie gras producer and the largest exporter (1,920 tonnes in 2005). France is the principal market for Hungarian foie gras; mainly exported raw. Approximately 30,000 Hungarian goose farmers are dependent on the foie gras industry. French food companies spice, process, and cook the foie gras so it may be sold as a French product in its domestic and export markets.

Bulgaria produced 1,500 tonnes of foie gras in 2005; Québec, Canada, also has a thriving foie gras industry; Canadian chefs use Québec foie gras as a demonstration of national pride. The demand for foie gras in the Far East is such that China has become a sizeable producer; however, Chinese foie gras is viewed with some suspicion by the French.

Production methods

Typical foie gras production involves force-feeding birds more food than they would eat in the wild, and much more than they would voluntarily eat domestically. The feed, usually corn boiled with fat (to facilitate ingestion), deposits large amounts of fat in the liver, thereby producing the buttery consistency sought by the gastronome.

Physiology and preparation

The geese and ducks used in foie gras production are, generally, Toulouse geese, and sterile hybrid ducks—Cairina moschata drakes crossed with female domestic ducks (Anas platyrhynchos). Only the male ducks are used for foie gras production; the unwanted female ducklings are generally killed shortly after birth because their liver is considered of lower quality.

Geese and ducks are omnivorous, and, like many birds, have expansive throats allowing them to store large amounts of food, either whole or pre-digested, in the oesophagus while awaiting digestion in the stomach. In the wild this dilation allows them to swallow large foodstuffs, such as a whole fish, for a later, long digestion. Wild geese may consume 300 grams of protein and another 800 grams of grasses per day. Farmed geese allowed to graze on carrots adapt to eat 100 grams of protein, but may consume up to 2500 grams of the carrots per day. A wild duck may double its weight in the autumn, storing fat throughout much of its body and especially on the liver, in preparation for winter migration. Storage of fat in the liver produces steatosis of the liver cells.

The geese or ducks used in foie gras production are generally free range for the first 12 weeks, feeding on grasses that toughen the oesophagus. While still free roaming they are gradually introduced to a high starch diet that by itself leads to about half of the enlarged liver's size. The next feeding phase, which the French call gavage or finition d'engraissement, or "completion of fattening", involves forced daily ingestion of controlled amounts of feed for 12 to 15 days with ducks and for 15 to 18 days with geese. During this phase ducks are usually fed twice daily while geese are fed up to 4 times daily.

Fattening

In modern production, the bird is typically fed a controlled amount of feed, depending on the stage of the fattening process, its weight, and the amount of feed it last ingested. At the start of production, a bird might be fed a dry weight of 250 grams of food per day, and up to 1,000 grams (in dry weight) by the end of the process. The actual amount of food force-fed is much greater, since the birds are fed a mash composed of about 53% dry and 47% liquid (by weight).

The feed is administered using a funnel fitted with a long tube (20–30 cm long), which forces the feed into the animal's esophagus; if an auger is used, the feeding takes about 45 to 60 seconds. Modern systems usually use a tube fed by a pneumatic pump; with such a system the operation time per duck takes about 2 to 3 seconds. During feeding, care is taken to avoid damaging the bird's esophagus, which could cause it injury or death.

While force feeding is required to meet the French legal definition of "foie gras", producers outside of France do not always force feed birds in order to produce what they consider to be foie gras. Award-winning Spanish producer Patería de Sousa produces foie gras by taking advantage of the natural instinct of geese to fatten their own livers in preparation for migration.

Presentation

An entire foie gras (partly prepared for a terrine).
Pâté de foie gras served picnic-style with a Sauternes wine and bread.

In France, foie gras, exists in different, legally-defined presentations, from the expensive to the cheap:

  • foie gras entier (entire foie gras), made of one or two whole liver lobes; either cooked (cuit), semi-cooked (mi-cuit), or fresh (frais);
  • foie gras, made of pieces of livers reassembled together;
  • bloc de foie gras, a fully-cooked, molded block composed of 98% or more foie gras; if termed avec morceaux ("with pieces"), it must contain at least 50% foie gras pieces for goose, and 30% for duck.

Additionally, there exist pâté de foie gras; mousse de foie gras (both must contain 50% or more foie gras); parfait de foie gras (must contain 75% or more foie gras); and other preparations (no legal obligation established).

Fully cooked preparations are generally sold in either glass containers or metal cans for long-term preservation. Whole, fresh foie gras is usually unavailable, except in some producers' markets in the producing regions. Frozen whole foie gras sometimes is sold in French supermarkets.

Generally, French preparations of foie gras are over low heat (terrine), as too much fat melts from the traditional goose foie gras. The American palate, used to the more accessible duck foie gras, has more recipes and dish preparations for serving that foie gras hot, rather than cool or cold. The recent (in French culinary tradition) introduction of duck foie gras has resulted in some recipes returning to France from America. In Hungary, goose foie gras traditionally is fried in goose fat, which is then poured over the foie gras and left to cool. It also is eaten warm, after being fried or roasted, with some chefs smoking the foie gras over a cherry wood fire. In other parts of the world foie gras is served in exotic dishes such as foie gras sushi or alongside steak tartare.

Foie gras may be flavored with truffles or liquors such as armagnac. It is commonly served accompanied with crusty or toasted bread. It is often served with a dessert wine such as Sauternes, as the rich, sweet flavours go well together; classic wine and food matching; some diners prefer it with a dry white wine, such as those from Alsace; accompaniments may include onion jam.

Consumption

Foie gras is a luxury dish. Many in France only consume foie gras on special occasions, such as Christmas or New Year's Eve réveillon dinners, though the recent increased availability of foie gras has made it a less exceptional dish. In some areas of France foie gras is a year-round pleasure.

Duck foie gras is the cheaper and, since a change of production methods in the 1950s, by far the most common kind. The taste of duck foie gras is often referred to as musky with a subtle bitterness. Goose foie gras is noted for being less gamey and smoother.

Controversy

See also Force-feeding of animals
Activist criticism frequently relies on shock value to make a point. This photo of force-feeding is from Belgian animal rights group GAIA.

Animal rights and welfare groups

Animal rights and animal welfare groups such as PETA and Farm Sanctuary contend that foie gras production methods, and force feeding in particular, consist of cruel and inhumane treatment of animals. Specific complaints include livers swollen to many times their normal size, impaired liver function, expansion of the abdomen making it difficult for birds to walk, death if the force feeding is continued, and scarring of the esophagus.

PETA claims that the insertion and removal of the feeding tube scratch the throat and the esophagus, causing irritations and wounds and thus exposing the animal to risk of mortal infections.

Late in 2003, the French group Stopgavage ("Citizens' Initiative for the banning of force-feeding") published the Proclamation for the Abolition of Force Feeding, which asks justices to find foie gras production practices a violation of existing animal welfare laws. For this manifesto Stopgavage claims the support of over eighty French animal rights and welfare associations, over a hundred such associations from 25 other countries, and over 20 thousand individual signatories.

EU Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare

This section may benefit from being shortened by the use of summary style. Summary style may involve the splitting of sections of text to one or more sub-topic articles which are then summarized in the main article.

The Report of the EU Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare on Welfare Aspects of the Production of Foie Gras in Ducks and Geese, adopted 16 December 1998, is an 89-page review of studies from several producing countries. It examines several indicators of animal welfare, including physiological indicators, liver pathology, and mortality rate. It finds that "no definite conclusions can be drawn concerning the physiological activity of birds in response to force feeding", "the mortality rate in force fed birds varies from 2% to 4% in the two week force feeding period compared with around 0.2% in comparable ducks", shows "force feeding induced hepatic steatosis in the duck or goose which was totally reversible"—"some pathologists consider this level of steatosis to be pathological but others do not", and "concludes that force feeding, as currently practised, is detrimental to the welfare of the birds." It recommends that research "should be carried out into methods of producing fat liver which do not require the use of force feeding", and recommends collection of additional data regarding the health of the animals, feeding methods, animal housing, and socio-economic factors.

The EU report notes that continued force feeding leads to early death of the animal. The timing of liver fattening is carefully controlled so the animal is slaughtered before it becomes a health hazard. An animal that stops the forced feeding process returns to its normal weight. Producers, and the EU report, also answer the criticism of increased mortality by noting that the overall mortality rate of ducks and geese in foie gras production is much less than that of farm raised chickens and turkeys.

"The oropharyngeal area is particularly sensitive and is physiologically adapted to perform a gag reflex in order to prevent fluids entering the trachea. Force feeding will have to overcome this reflex and hence the birds may initially find this distressing and injury may result."

The EU committee carried out several tests designed to detect pain or distress by looking at blood hormones and all of them were inconclusive or without any measurable difference to similarly raised animals. The committee observed that ducks and geese in a pen kept away from their force feeder when he entered the room, while daily hand-feeding of ducks and geese is normally associated with a positive response by the animals towards the person feeding them. In an experiment carried out on ducks kept individually in cages, the birds displayed less avoidance behaviour to the force feeder’s visit than to the visit of a neutral person coming along the cages one hour after the force feeding.

American Veterinary Medical Association

The American Veterinary Medical Association states "Limited peer-reviewed, scientific information is available dealing with the animal welfare concerns associated with foie gras production, but the observations and practical experience shared by HOD members indicate a minimum of adverse effects on the birds involved."

Third-party observers

New York Times editor Lawrence Downes, who paid an unrestricted visit to Hudson Valley Foie Gras, "saw no pain or panic...The birds submitted matter-of-factly to a 15-inch tube inserted down the throat for about three seconds, delivering about a cup of corn pellets. The practice...seemed neither particularly gentle nor particularly rough."

Foie gras producers and industry groups

Most foie gras producers do not consider their methods cruel, insisting that it is a natural process exploiting the animals' natural features. Producers argue that wild ducks and geese naturally ingest large amounts of whole food and gain weight before migration. Foie gras producers also contend that geese and ducks do not have a gag reflex, and therefore do not find force feeding uncomfortable. Michael Ginor, owner of Hudson Valley Foie Gras and author of Foie Gras... A Passion, claims his birds come to him and says this is important because "a stressed or hurt bird won't eat and digest well or produce a foie gras."

Industry groups including the CIFOG, and researchers at INRA affirm that forced feeding is not a cruel procedure and even that animals appreciate this treatment. The INRA has been criticized for allowing its researchers to receive heavy grants from the foie gras industry for conducting research openly aimed at contradicting the EU report conclusions.

Legal status

Europe

"Until new scientific evidence on alternative methods and their welfare aspects is available", the production of foie gras is prohibited by treaty except for "where it is current practice" among 35 countries bound by the Council of Europe's European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes.

The force feeding of animals for non-medical purposes, essential to current foie gras production practices, is explicitly prohibited by specific laws in six of nine Austrian provinces, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, or following interpretation of general animal protection laws in Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Most of these countries aren't currently producing foie gras, nor have they been in the past. Thus, these bans have stopped actual foie gras production in very few countries, with the notable exception of Israel.

Since 1997, the number of European countries producing foie gras has halved; the production remains currently legal only in five countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain, France and Hungary.

French law states that "Foie gras belongs to the protected cultural and gastronomical heritage of France."

United States

State of California: Sections 25980-25984 of the California Health and Safety Code, enacted in 2004 and to become effective July 2012, prohibit the "force feed a bird for the purpose of enlarging the bird's liver beyond normal size" as well as the sale of products that are a result of this process.

City of Chicago: On 26 April 2006, the City Council of Chicago voted to ban the sale of foie gras, effective 22 August 2006. In response, several Chicago chefs have filed suit and deliberately violated the law by continuing to sell foie gras. Further, a handful of chefs are serving foie gras without charge, which is not against the law. Even for establishments that are violating the law, the City is issuing warning letters but no citations. In December 2006, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley referred to the ban as "the silliest law" the City Council has ever passed.

Elsewhere in the world

Argentina: Foie gras production is illegal in Argentina as a mistreatment or act of cruelty to animals.

Israel: In August 2003, the Supreme Court of Israel ordered the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture to ban the force feeding of geese, effective March 31, 2005. The last appeal was withdrawn in October 2005, but the law was left unenforced until February 2006.

South Africa: Foie gras production was halted in South Africa in 1998, following cruelty charges filed by the SPCA against the sole producer in the country. Neither force feeding nor foie gras have been banned in this country.

References

Books
Notes
  1. French rural code L654-27-1: "On entend par foie gras, le foie d'un canard ou d'une oie spécialement engraissé par gavage." ("By "foie gras" one is to understand the liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened by force feeding").
  2. http://ec.europa.eu/food/fs/sc/scah/out17_en.pdf p.37: Whilst studies of the anatomy of ducks and geese kept for foie gras production have been carried out, the amount of evidence in the scientific literature concerning the effects of force feeding and liver hypertrophy on injury level, on the functioning of the various biological systems is small.
  3. http://ec.europa.eu/food/fs/sc/scah/out17_en.pdf p.38: the adrenal reactivity data obtained from tests carried out at the end of the force feeding period did not show any difference and no statistically significant modification of any of the other measures was obtained between the prior fattening period and the force feeding period. This measure, therefore gives no evidence that intensive force feeding is stressful to the male hybrid duck.
  4. (McGee 2004, p. 167) harv error: no target: CITEREFMcGee2004 (help): "Foie gras is the "fat liver" of force-fed geese and ducks. It has been made and appreciated since Roman times and probably long before; the force-feeding of geese is clearly represented in Egyptian art from 2500 BCE."
  5. (Toussaint-Samat 1994, p. 425) harv error: no target: CITEREFToussaint-Samat1994 (help).
  6. (Ginor 1999, p. 2) harv error: no target: CITEREFGinor1999 (help).
  7. (Toussaint-Samat 1994, p. 425) harv error: no target: CITEREFToussaint-Samat1994 (help).
  8. "Living With the Animals", Joseph J.. Hobbs, Saudi Aramco World July/August 2001, pp. 14-21.
  9. (Alford 2001, p. 36) harv error: no target: CITEREFAlford2001 (help).
  10. (Ginor 1999, p. 3) harv error: no target: CITEREFGinor1999 (help).
  11. (Toussaint-Samat 1994, p. 425) harv error: no target: CITEREFToussaint-Samat1994 (help).
  12. http://saveur.com/article.jsp?ID=5033&typeID=100
  13. (Ginor 1999, p. 4) harv error: no target: CITEREFGinor1999 (help).
  14. (Giacosa 1994, p. 13) harv error: no target: CITEREFGiacosa1994 (help).
  15. (Langslow 2000, p. 153) harv error: no target: CITEREFLangslow2000 (help): "A second instance of the restriction of the sense of a Latin anatomical term to animals is iecur 'the liver' in Theodorus and Cassius. In both, the human liver is always hepar, while iecur is used of an animal (...)"
  16. "Ficus,i" (...) Derivés: (...) ficatum n. (sc. iecur): d'abord terme de cuisine "foie garni de figues", cf. Hor., S. 2, 8, 88, ficis pastum iecur anseris albae, calque du gr. συκωτόν de même sens, puis, dans le langage populaire, simplement "foie" (...) et passé avec ce sens dans les langues romanes, où ficatum a remplacé iecur. A. Ernout, A. Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine, Éd. Klincksieck, Paris 1979.
  17. Pliny the Elder, The Natural History (eds. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A.) For the original Latin text, see here. The Latin text (ed. Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff) of Perseus Digital Library places the corresponding text in a wrong chapter. URL accessed December 30, 2006.
  18. Yakov Malkiel of University of California explains that the Portuguese word iguaria, meaning "tasty food, dainty dish", is traced back to Late Latin iequaria and thus connected to the iecur family, and ficatum replaced the traditional Latin word for "liver". See The Etymology of Portuguese Iguaria by Yakov Malkiel. URL accessed December 30, 2006.
  19. (Littré 1863, p. 137) harv error: no target: CITEREFLittré1863 (help): "Feûte n'est pas mieux fait que foie; seulement, il conserve le t du latin; car on sait que foie vient de ficatum (foie d'une oie nourrie de figues, et, de là, foie en général). Foie en français, feûte en wallon, fetge en provençal, fégato en italien, hígado en espagnol, fígado en portugais, témoignent que la bouche romane déplaça l'accent du mot latin, et, au lieu de ficátum, qui est la prononciation régulière, dit, par anomalie, fícatum avec l'accent sur l'antépénultième."
  20. Dizionario etimologico online: fégato.
  21. (Toussaint-Samat 1994, p. 426) harv error: no target: CITEREFToussaint-Samat1994 (help).
  22. (Ginor 1999, p. 8) harv error: no target: CITEREFGinor1999 (help).
  23. (Ginor 1999, p. 9) harv error: no target: CITEREFGinor1999 (help).
  24. (Davidson 1999, p. 311) harv error: no target: CITEREFDavidson1999 (help): "The enlarged liver has been counted a delicacy since classical times, when the force-feeding of the birds was practised in classical Rome. It is commonly said that the practice dates back even further, to ancient Egypt, and that knowledge of it was possibly acquired by the Jews during their period of 'bondage' there and transmitted by them to the classical civilizations."
  25. (Ginor 1999, p. 9) harv error: no target: CITEREFGinor1999 (help).
  26. (Alford 2001, p. 36) harv error: no target: CITEREFAlford2001 (help).
  27. (Ginor 1999, p. 9) harv error: no target: CITEREFGinor1999 (help).
  28. (Alford 2001, p. 37) harv error: no target: CITEREFAlford2001 (help).
  29. (Ginor 1999, p. 9) harv error: no target: CITEREFGinor1999 (help).
  30. (Ginor 1999, p. 11) harv error: no target: CITEREFGinor1999 (help).
  31. (Ginor 1999, p. 11) harv error: no target: CITEREFGinor1999 (help).
  32. (Toussaint-Samat 1994, p. 427) harv error: no target: CITEREFToussaint-Samat1994 (help).
  33. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/11/content_4409586.htm
  34. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/11/content_4409586.htm
  35. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/11/content_4409586.htm
  36. http://www.starchefs.com/features/food_debates/foie_gras/index.shtml
  37. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/11/content_4409586.htm
  38. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/11/content_4409586.htm
  39. http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/855/2006/04/11/501@75992.htm
  40. http://www.cee-foodindustry.com/news/ng.asp?id=49055-hungary-facing-foie
  41. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3346185.stm
  42. http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/855/2006/04/11/501@75992.htm
  43. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2120472,00.html Purists take a jaundiced view of Chinese foie gras.
  44. AGRESTE (French agriculture statistics office).
  45. J. Champagne, "Possibilités de valorisation de la canette mularde", Sciences et Techniques Avicoles, n.3, April 1993, p. 39-42; " André Daguin, l’aventurier du magret", L'Humanité, 21 Dec. 1993.
  46. Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare on Welfare Aspects of the Production of Foie Gras in Ducks and Geese, section 4
  47. http://www.tours.inra.fr/sra/internet/images/equipes/comportement/foiefras/Diapositive4.jpg
  48. Guemene D, et al., “Force-feeding procedure and physiological indicators of stress in male mule ducks,” Br Poult Sci. 2001 Dec; 42(5):650–7, p.651.
  49. The standard practice is pneumatic force-feeding, as stated on this French regional authority page and this foie gras enthusiast page; see also this force-feeding equipment page.
  50. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13130-2526346,00.html
  51. Decree 93-999 of August 9, 1993 defining legal categories and terms for foie gras in France
  52. http://amarillo.com/stories/041203/new_edgeof.shtml
  53. http://www.goveg.com/feat/foie/
  54. http://www.nofoiegras.org/
  55. http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=foie_gras_USA&Player=wm&speed=_med
  56. Stopgavage manifesto page; foie gras page on the site of Le Quid.
  57. List of signatories.
  58. http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/sep05/050901q.asp
  59. http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/10/05/ruhlman_bourdain_foie/index1.html
  60. Downes, Lawrence (June 26, 2005). "Editorial Observer; Face to Face With the Foie Gras Problem". The New York Times.
  61. Antoine Comiti, L'INRA au secours du foie gras - Enquête sur une expertise publique sous contrôle de l'industrie, éd. Sentience, 2006.
  62. "L'INRA accusé de connivence avec la filière du foie gras", Le Monde 29 Dec. 2006.
  63. Council of Europe 1999 recommendation (binding text): "1. Countries allowing foie gras production shall encourage research on its welfare aspects and on alternative methods which do not include gavage. 2. Until new scientific evidence on alternative methods and their welfare aspects is available, the production of foie gras shall be carried out only where it is current practice and then only in accordance with standards laid down in domestic law. (...)"
  64. The ratification list includes 30 countries plus the European union itself, through which 5 additional countries are signatories.
  65. European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes, Article 9
  66. Explicit prohibition by the 2005 Template:De icon German law, §3, Art. 9 prohibiting force-feeding.
  67. Explicit prohibition by the Legislative Decree of 26 March 2001, n. 146 relative to the protection of animals in husbandry; Italian text.
  68. Explicit prohibition by the Welfare of Animals Act of 20th December 1974 No 73, §8 (4); English text
  69. Explicit prohibition by the Animal Protection Act of 1997, Chapter 3, Art. 12.4; English text.
  70. http://www.stopforcefeeding.com/page.php?module=article&article_id=26
  71. http://www.mensvogue.com/food/articles/2006/08/21/foie_gras?currentPage=1
  72. "Le foie gras, un délice accessible à un public de plus en plus large": "Les pays européens où la production de foie gras n'est pas encore bridée sont la Belgique, la Bulgarie, l'Espagne, la France et la Hongrie."; "Depuis 1997, le nombre de pays producteurs de foie gras en Europe a diminué de moitié.".
  73. French rural code L654-27-1
  74. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=hsc&codebody=25980&hits=20
  75. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/us/27foiegras.html
  76. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/23/news/liver.php
  77. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14472971/
  78. "The search for foie gras proves foggy", Chicago Tribune, September 21, 2006
  79. "Let 'em eat foie gras, they declare", Chicago Tribune, December 21, 2006
  80. "Let 'em eat foie gras, they declare", Chicago Tribune, December 21, 2006
  81. Ave - alimentacion forzada - prohibicion, law RS 413/03, 20 August 2003: "Que de acuerdo a lo expresado en el artículo 1° de la Ley N° 14.346, la alimentación forzada debe incluirse como malos tratos o acto de crueldad a los animales, en este caso gansos y patos." ("That in compliance to the article n.1 of the law n.14.346, force feeding must be considered mistreatment or an act of cruelty to animals, in this case to geese or ducks.")
  82. http://www.chai-online.org/en/compassion/foiegras/foiegras.pdf
  83. http://www.chai-online.org/en/compassion/foiegras/food_foiegras.htm
  84. http://www.stopforcefeeding.com/page.php?module=international

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