Foie gras production involves force-feeding ducks and geese to cause liver enlargement, raising severe welfare concerns that have led to bans in many countries.
Foie gras production causes welfare harm through multiple mechanisms that are difficult to dispute. Force-feeding using a tube inserted into the esophagus causes physical discomfort and injury. The accelerated liver enlargement to 6-10 times normal size causes the organ to occupy space that compresses other abdominal organs and causes difficulty breathing and walking in severely affected birds. The disease state itself - steatohepatitis - causes systemic malaise equivalent to severe liver disease in any species. The argument that ducks naturally eat heavily before migration is an insufficient defense - natural hyperphagia before migration occurs voluntarily over extended periods, not through forced tube feeding multiple times daily. The international consensus banning foie gras production in most of the world reflects a scientific and ethical assessment that the welfare costs are unjustifiable.