Foie gras production — force-feeding geese and ducks to enlarge their livers — has been banned in over a dozen countries based on the welfare evidence against gavage feeding.
Foie gras production is among the most clearly welfare-compromising practices in food animal production, with a direct causal chain from gavage procedure to disease (hepatic steatosis) to welfare harm that is difficult to dispute. The esophageal damage, metabolic stress, and physical impairment of severely enlarged livers are not marginal welfare concerns — they are the intended outcome of the production method. The regulatory bans that exist in multiple jurisdictions reflect democratic assessment that this welfare cost is not justified by the culinary product. The analogy to natural migration gorging is weak: wild gorging is voluntary, time-limited, and does not involve tube insertion or the extreme hepatic enlargement achieved in commercial gavage. Ethical alternative products using genuine voluntary gorging behavior exist as a proof-of-concept that good foie gras flavor can be achieved without welfare-compromising force-feeding.