Foie Gras Production: The Crime of Mistreatment Behind Luxury Gastronomy

The Torture of Mechanical Gavage

Foie gras (fatty liver) is obtained through one of the most brutal practices in the food industry: gavage. Geese and ducks are immobilized in tiny cages and forced to ingest, through a metal tube violently introduced down the esophagus into the stomach, daily kilos of fatty feed. The procedure causes pathological hepatic steatosis, hypertrophying the bird's liver by up to 10 times its normal size.

Legal Framework: Lei de Crimes Ambientais (Lei 9.605/98)

Article 32 of Lei Federal nº 9.605/98 expressly criminalizes the act of “performing an act of abuse, mistreatment, injuring or mutilating wild, domestic, or domesticated animals”.

Intentionally inducing a terminal liver disease in an animal through forced mechanical feeding is the technical and legal definition of aggravated mistreatment, lacking any biological or necessity justification.

The Legal Scenario in Brazil and Worldwide

• International Bans: Foie gras is banned in more than 15 European countries, the United Kingdom, India, Israel, and in US states such as California and the city of New York.
• Brazilian Municipal Victories: The enactment of landmark laws, such as Lei Municipal nº 16.222/2015 in São Paulo, which banned the production and commercialization of the product in restaurants and open-air markets in the capital.
• Ethical Consumption Responsibility: The growing rejection by renowned chefs and civil society of gastronomic ostentation grounded in pain.

“No gastronomic dish justifies the deliberate imposition of a painful and agonizing pathology on a helpless animal.”

Support the End of Gavage

Gaia Libertas fights to extend the ban on foie gras and gavage to the federal level across Brazilian territory. Say no to the consumption of products derived from extreme animal suffering.