Scandalous food practice turns my stomach

ALL this month, people who wouldn’t dream of ordering fois gras between January and November, find it on a Christmas menu and, keen to try something “posh”, send in their order.

Few will know that by doing so, they are supporting a scandalous food practice.

The methods used to turn duck and goose livers into the delicacy known as pate de fois gras are anything but delicate.

Fois gras is produced by force-feeding birds abnormally large amounts of high-protein food.

The common method used to feed the caged or penned birds is via a 12 to 16-inch plastic or metal tube, shoved down their throats and attached to a pressurised pump. Force-feeding causes the liver to increase in size about six to 10 times compared to the size of a normal bird.

The next time you see fois gras on a menu, you might let the manager know that a product that comes from force-feeding ducks and geese is more than you can stomach.

Gerry Boland

Keadue

Co Roscommon