“Foie gras is an abhorrent product that has no place in modern society.”

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has banned foie gras from being served at the royal residence.

This follows a similar move made by King Charles III of the UK, who banned foie gras from being served at any royal residences in the country.

“We no longer make dishes that contain foie gras,” a royal spokesperson told animal rights group PETA.

“We will also never order foie gras from external establishments.”

What is foie gras?

Foie gras is a type of pâté made from geese or ducks’ liver.

However, the ‘gavage’ process of making this delicacy has been a huge point of contention due to the cruelty involved in its production method.

It involves workers inserting a tube down the bird’s throat twice a day and feeding them with a mixture of grain and fat for around 12-17 days. This process enlarges their liver up to 10 times their regular size.

‘Abhorrent product’

Praising the King for the humane decision, PETA vice president for the UK, Europe and Australia Mimi Bekhechi, said: “PETA commends His Majesty for keeping tormented birds’ diseased livers away from the royal palace.

 “Foie gras is an abhorrent product that has no place in modern society.”

Has the UK completely banned foie-gras?

While the production of foie gras is banned in both the UK and the Netherlands, it is still legal to import and sell the product in these countries.

The UK introduced an Animals Abroad Bill which pledged to ‘introduce measures to protect the welfare of animals abroad’ during Boris Johnson’s time as Prime Minister. It called for bans on fur and foie gras imports, as well as trophy hunting. 

However, last year, the proposed bill was obstructed by members of the cabinet who believed that banning certain items or actions was indicative of socialist ideology.

Later, environment secretary Therese Coffey in an interview with The Telegraph hinted at6

the possibility of the bill being dropped altogether.

“Animal welfare is very important,” she said.

“All I would say right now is that we need to think through priorities. We stand by the welfare action plan, but there’s only so [much] time that we can get the legislation.”

However, according to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), limited Parliamentary time was responsible for the lack of progress but said that future legislation to ban the imports of fur and foie gras has not been “dropped” or “shelved”. 

Across the pond, the state of New York blocked New York City from going ahead with the foie gras sales ban it passed in 2019.

It said the measure violated a little-known law that forbids metropolitan regions from imposing restrictions on what farmers can grow and market.  

However, residents of New York City have shown strong support for a ban on foie gras, with a significant majority of 81% in favour of removing it from menus.

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Mohsina Dodhiya

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