Jars of foie gras are flying off supermarket shelves as they usually do in the festive season, but could it be that the French, the principal producers and consumers of the delicacy, are becoming squeamish about the controversial gourmet dish?

According to an OpinionWay poll carried out for a French animal protection group, 47% of those questioned said they would support a ban on the force feeding of geese and ducks, the process by which foie gras, or fatty liver, is made.

Known as gavage in French, the process involves pumping corn mash into the gullets of geese and ducks to enlarge their livers. Animal rights groups denounce it as gruesome and cruel and have called the dish “torture in a tin”.

California banned foie gras in a 2004 ruling that was upheld by the supreme court in October after appeals by restaurant owners and producers.

In France, the L214 animal rights group has been campaigning against force-feeding and noted that the percentage of those opposed to the process was three points higher this year than in 2013.

The poll released on Saturday showed that 29% said they would avoid buying the delicacy for ethical reasons. L214 said sales in France had declined by 5.6% over the past three years.

One producer in Aiguillon, south-west France, played down the impact of the study:“If people don’t like foie gras, they don’t need to eat it. Just don’t harass us, that’s all”.

Hubert Garez of the foie gras producer La Ferme de Ramon, said eating foie gras was a pleasure. “It will remain a French dish. It’s part of our originality,” he said.

Of those surveyed, 77% said they would prefer foie gras that was not made through force feeding,but Garez was sceptical, saying the French public research institute INRA had looked into alternatives “and it would be a disaster”. Animal rights organisations accuse the INRA of siding with the foie gras producers.

Several European countries, including Britain, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Switzerland, have banned the production of foie gras. An increasing number of chefs in Britain, including in the royal household of the Prince of Wales, have removed the dish from their menus.

Earlier this month, the celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal dropped his French supplier of foie gras, after seeing a video which showed caged birds covered in feed and vomit being force-fed. Brigitte Gothière, a L214 spokeswoman, said: “In the light of such images, we are expecting the same reaction in France as in England.”