UK to ban ‘barbaric’ foie gras in post-Brexit move

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Mohsina Dodhiya8th March 20219th March 2021Food, Lifestyle, News

Animal Welfare Minister Lord Goldsmith said ‘foie gras is unbearably barbaric’.

The UK Government is exploring the idea of banning the sale and import of foie gras in a post-Brexit move.

According to government sources, Animal Welfare Minister Lord Goldsmith is working on introducing the ban ‘in the next few months.’ after ‘calling it ‘unbearably barbaric’.

'Torture in a tin' foie gras is set to be banned in post-Brexit move
https://t.co/tUfEjqDYCw
— Zac Goldsmith (@ZacGoldsmith) March 7, 2021

Foie Gras ban

While British farmers are banned from producing it, if the new rules come into force, restaurants, and stores will be banned from importing it from the EU.

Foie gras is the vile practice of force-feeding geese and ducks several times a day until ‘their livers become diseased and swell to around 10 times their natural size’

Ban the ‘notoriously vile food’

Animal rights activists have been campaigning against the cruel practice for years

Vegan charity PETA also set up a petition calling for a complete ban.

It wrote to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice, urging him to stop the sale and importation of what it described as ‘torture in a tin’.

“Foie gras is a notoriously vile food for which birds are condemned to such intense suffering that its production is illegal in the UK and more than a dozen other countries,” PETA states.

“We should close our borders to this cruel trade. A ban would reflect the view of the overwhelming majority of Brits. 79 percent want to see an end to imports of foie gras.

“By making the decision to stop importing and selling this vile product, the UK would close the loophole that currently allows a food whose production is so cruel that it cannot take place here to remain on our shelves. And, become a world leader in animal protection.”

The petition has exceeded 20,000 signatures.

Fortnum & Mason takes foie gras off shelves

Last month, UK department store Fortnum & Mason also confirmed that it will remove foie gras from shelves after the last of its stock has been sold off.

The decision was lauded by Lord Goldsmith at the time, who tweeted: “Foie gras is unbearably barbaric. It’s hard to imagine anyone could watch the process and still enjoy eating it.”