House of Fraser to ban 'unethical' foie gras
Saturday, 9 June 2007
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Department store group House of Fraser announced yesterday it is to stop selling foie gras pate on ethical grounds.
The retailer will no longer stock the luxury food stuff, controversially made by force feeding geese, at any of its food outlets including flagship Edinburgh store Jenners.
It follows a long campaign by animal rights campaigners Advocates for Animals, headed up by the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton.
The aristocratic couple started a boycott of Jenners in 2000 in protest at the stocking of foie gras.
The Duchess congratulated the group today in a letter published on the Advocates for Animals website - saying she and her husband would be returning as customers to Jenners.
She said: "I am indeed delighted that House of Fraser has taken the ethical decision to end the sale of foie gras.
"There can surely be no excuse for inflicting such terrible suffering on these animals in order to produce a luxury food such as this.
"I am pleased that my husband and I will once again be able to shop in Jenners.
"I am sure many other shoppers will feel the same."
Foie gras literally means 'fatty liver' and is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese until their livers swell to 6-10 times their normal size.
Advocates for Animals said pneumatic pumps force huge quantities of food into the birds in just a few seconds.
The practice would almost certainly kill the birds if they were not slaughtered, the campaigner said.
House of Fraser food buying manager Sandy Collyer said: "We have reached a decision to stop selling foie gras on ethical grounds."
The group operates more than 70 stores across the UK, not all of which stock food.
Advocates' director, Ross Minett said: "Advocates for Animals has been campaigning for Jenners to end the sale of foie gras for many years so this is great news.
"We congratulate House of Fraser on its ethical decision.
"There can be no other system of farming in which animals are deliberately raised to become deformed and diseased."
House of Fraser's new policy follows decisions by other major stores such as Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Lidl to end the sale of foie gras.
Former James Bond actor Sir Roger Moore recently backed a campaign to ban the sale of foie gras in the UK.
He has written to MPs describing the "cruel" process used to produce the food.
