Foie gras
In 2014, the whole of the EU produced approximately 25,000 tonnes of foie gras – 23,000 tonnes of duck foie gras and 2,000 tonnes of goose foie gras. The same year, France was producing 72% of world foie gras production of which 97% was from ducks.
In 2015, it was reported that in France, sales of foie gras may be waning and an OpinionWay poll found that 47% of the French population supported a ban on force-feeding.
Foie gras controversy
The production of foie gras (the liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened) involves the controversial force-feeding of birds with more food than they would eat in the wild, and 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 fatty consistency sought by some gastronomes.