Amazon agrees to stop selling foie gras on UK website after bowing to pressure from animal welfare campaigners

Animal rights group Viva! campaigned for Amazon to remove products

It provided video evidence of 'cruel' treatment of caged birds in France



Says Amazon has taken an 'ethical lead' in removing 100 foie gras products

Foie gras production is banned in the UK but the food can be imported

Amazon has bowed to pressure from animal welfare campaigners and decided to stop selling ‘cruel’ foie gras on its British website.

The product, which comes from ducks and geese that are force fed to make their livers grow to a large an unnatural size, has been added to a list of prohibited items.

It is highly prized by some food lovers and celebrity chefs, such as Gordon Ramsay, who have included it on their menus for many years.

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Setting a precedent: Amazon has taken an 'ethical lead' and delisted more than 100 foie gras products from its UK website following pressure from animal rights activists

However, earlier this year the animal welfare campaigners at the Viva! group petitioned Amazon to stop selling the delicacy on the grounds of the cruelty involved in its production.

It presented Amazon with video evidence of the suffering caused by its production and a petition signed by over 10,000 opponents of the trade.

The campaign followed an investigation in France which showed shocking images of force feeding at a farm that supplied products sold through Amazon.

Footage from a farm belonging to a producer called Labeyrie showed distressing scenes of ducks being given huge amounts of grain with pneumatic pumps.

Animal rights group Viva! launched a campaign to show Amazon how birds are treated at farms in France where some of its products originate

They lobbied Amazon with posters and video evidence that they say showed the products it was selling came from farms where birds were treated 'cruelly'

These birds were seen in group cages where an automatic bar pins the ducks to the floor to prevent them avoiding being force fed.

Production of foie gras is illegal in the UK as it would break existing animal welfare law, however it is not against the law to sell imported products.

Before the ban, the UK Amazon Marketplace grocery section offered more than 100 products containing foie gras, including 75g cans for £15. Both Amazon and third party retailers sold the controversial food.

Justin Kerswell, campaigns manager at Viva!, said: ‘Foie gras is mostly produced by imprisoning birds in cages so tiny they can’t move, by forcing a pipe down their throats and force feeding them until their livers swell to ten times their natural size.

The birds were kept in small cages, with little room to move and force fed grain

The caged animals have no natural light and can barely move

‘I can’t imagine why anyone would want to eat it – or be involved in its sale. It is quite simply torture in a tin. There is nothing humane about mechanically inducing disease in a bird.’

He described Amazon’s decision to stop selling it as ‘an incredible victory’ for anyone who cares about the welfare of animals.

Mr Kerswell said: ‘Amazon should be congratulated for taking an ethical lead by delisting foie gras in the UK, but we hope that ethical stance is expanded worldwide.

‘This is a perfect example that consumer pressure does work, even with corporate giants such as Amazon.

Amazon has now removed more than 100 products containing foie gras from its supplies

Praising the company, Justin Kerswell, campaigns manager at Viva!, said: ¿Amazon should be congratulated for taking an ethical lead by delisting foie gras in the UK, but we hope that ethical stance is expanded worldwide'

‘We will be extending our campaign to other online retailers, such as eBay. We must not lose sight of the fact that foie gras is a peculiarly un-British cruelty.

‘It would be illegal to produce in Britain and causes untold suffering to millions of birds every year in France and other countries that produce it.’

The organisation is calling on the UK government to ban imports.

The campaign against foie gras, which also includes the PETA organisation, has gathered a host of celebrity backers, including Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Roger Moore and Brigit Bardot.

