Help Ban Foie Gras in the United States!

Foie Gras, the fatty liver of a goose or duck, is a meat that is not only extremely cruel to produce it is also a “food” that should be illegal in the United States according to the Poultry Products Inspection Act.

The ducks and geese who are used for foie gras endure horrific suffering throughout their entire lives, which are typically spent confined in tiny pens or wire cages where they can’t even turn around. At just a few months old these innocent sensitive animals have long metal tubes shoved down their throats which are used to force feed them high-calorie food every day for months until their livers expand 6 to 10 times their normal size.

The processing of pumping the birds’ stomachs through these metal tubes, known as “gavage”, can cause injuries to their beaks and throats, psychological distress, and multiple organ failure before they are eventually slaughtered for their livers.

This unthinkable cruelty is inflicted on these animals to intentionally make them ill with a debilitating health condition called hepatic steatosis, or fatty liver disease.

Foie gras production is so cruel that it is banned in 20 countries as well as in the state of California and in New York City. Foie gras is also banned in three cities in France, the birthplace of this inhumane dish.

Foie gras should be banned in the United States on cruelty grounds alone, however the product also directly violates the USDA’s Poultry Products Inspection Act which requires that “diseased poultry carcasses and parts be condemned.”

The USDA admitted in a letter to the Animal Legal Defense Fund in 2011 that if foie gras was the product of a diseased bird then it could not be sold in the United States based on current regulations, however, they then made the ridiculous claim that they do not accept that foie gras is the product of disease.

That is a flat out lie!

Independent lab testing, including by the Cornell University Animal Health Diagnostic Center in 2019, has proven that foie gras comes from birds who suffer severe hepatic lipidosis. This fatty liver disease means that all the birds who are used for foie gras are diseased and therefore their meat is considered unfit for human consumption and should be condemned based on US laws.

Please join Species Unite in demanding that the USDA respect the Poultry Products Inspection Act and the American people by banning the sale of foie gras nationally.