Foie gras production through force-feeding (gavage) causes liver pathology, physical injury, and extreme distress in ducks and geese — a practice banned in many countries.
Foie gras production is among the most welfare-problematic practices in commercial food production. The product is literally a diseased organ — hepatic lipidosis in its pathological form — produced by overriding the normal satiety mechanisms of birds through mechanical force-feeding. The welfare evidence is extensive: force-fed birds show increased corticosterone, escape and avoidance behaviour during gavage, oesophageal lesions, and respiratory compromise from the grossly enlarged liver pressing on the air sacs. The welfare case against foie gras production is unusually clear: the process causes documented suffering, the product requires the disease state to exist, and prohibition in most European countries demonstrates political feasibility. Continued production in a small number of countries is supported by culinary tradition arguments that do not constitute welfare justifications.