Roux condemns foie gras production as inhumane

One of the world's most influential chefs has criticised the methods used to produce foie gras, saying the product should carry a similar warning to cigarettes to ensure consumers are aware of the effects upon the birds.

Albert Roux said the traditional force-feeding of ducks and geese could and should be replaced by more humane methods in which they are allowed to gorge themselves naturally, Scotland on Sunday reported.

His comments, at a cookery exhibition at a hotel in Inverness, were welcomed by campaigners against animal cruelty. "It's absolutely fantastic when chefs stand up against foie gras because it is one of the most inhumane and cruel systems of feeding," said a spokeswoman for Compassion in World Farming.

"It's all very well British chefs speaking out against foie gras but a French chef coming out against it is a move forward."

Roux, 73, born in Normandy, revolutionised the British catering establishment when he and his younger brother Michel opened Le Gavroche, the UK's first Michelin-starred restaurant, in London in 1967.