French develop ‘natural’ foie gras alternative
Scientists devise serum that avoids the need to fatten geese and ducks through force feeding
A FRENCH farm claims it is producing a “naturally fattened goose liver” as an “ethical” alternative to foie gras, removing the “force feeding” element of the process.
Instead of weeks of thrusting tubes down geese’s necks to swell their livers tenfold with corn and fat, Valérie Fosseries, a farmer in the south-west of France, feeds goslings a few drops of ferment before letting “nature take its course”.
Long seen as a gourmet delicacy, foie gras has become the target of animal rights activists and countries that have come to view force-feeding as cruel. In October, New York banned foie gras following similar bans in Chicago and California. Its production – but not consumption – is banned in many countries, including Britain.
Now French scientists at the Aviwell research company near Toulouse have developed an alternative version that uses bacteria ingested by goslings in drops to stimulate a natural, rather than forced, build-up of fat.
“Scientific research over the past 10 years has underlined the importance of intestinal flora in energy storage in livers. That has helped us pinpoint the specific ferments that foster liver fattening,” said Elodie Luche, Aviwell’s general director.
“These bacteria are entirely natural. We give goslings a few drops of this ferment when they are a day old and that’s it. They are not subjected to any stress at all and live a free-range life outside.” She said pinpointing the right bacteria required deep technical expertise that rivals would take “years” to copy.
The result, she added, could not be called foie gras as the term in France must respect strict procedures, including the technique of “gavage” – French for force feeding.
Aviwell raised 600 geese for its project last year and Ms Fosseries became the first farmer to adopt the technique.
Speaking from her barn in Bazillac in the foothill of the Pyrenees, she said she felt much happier about raising geese this way.
“The geese are no longer cooped up but free to come and go as they please,” she said. “They don’t have the stress of being transported to another farm or require constant ventilation at the end of their lives just to breathe.”
The technique could revive a market that has suffered from cheap, mainly eastern European, competition, said Ms Fosseries, who hopes to extend the method to ducks, which make up most of French foie gras production.
Sebastien Arsac, of L214, an animal rights group, called the initiative “very interesting as it avoids the act of forcing animals to eat”, although more tests were required to see whether the process shortened lifespans.
The European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes had already urged countries to seek “alternative methods that do not include gavage”.
If this technique worked, Mr Arsac said, it could lead to a blanket ban on force feeding.
However, the jury appears to be undecided over the quality and taste.
Simon Carlier, a chef from Toulouse who has been creating dishes with the alternative foie gras, described it as subtle and denser than normal foie gras. “We see a texture, which is less nauseating,” he said.
After blind tests, Marine Deleu, 57, a chef at l’arbre Jaune restaurant in Paris, said she preferred the force-fed version.
“I’m sorry but it doesn’t have the same taste or texture. Classic foie gras melts more in the mouth,” she said.
The alternative is three times as expensive as high-quality foie gras – at up to £390 per lb.
This is because only a third of birds raised on the serum end up with fatter livers, and force-fed geese can be four times heavier.
While this is a first for France, German researchers have come up with “foie royale”, made by taking the liver of an ethically reared duck or goose and combining it with fat cells in a lab, to recreate the unctuous, fatty flavour.
Waitrose started selling it in the UK earlier this year.
‘We give goslings a few drops of this ferment when they are a day old and that’s it. They are not subjected to any stress at all and live a free-range life outside’