Activists quiz Ramsay in row over foie gras

Animal activists are demanding to know the name of Gordon Ramsay's Hungarian foie gras supplier, following claims by the chef that the birds have not been force-fed.

The row, which has been simmering for a year, escalated last week when protesters from the lobby groups Clydeside Animal Action and Advocates for Animals demonstrated outside One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow.

Both groups wrote to Ramsay when he took over the 70-seat Amaryllis restaurant at the hotel earlier this year. They asked him if he knew of the production process and asked him to remove foie gras from the menu.

The issue now is that while Ramsay claims his foie gras is "organic, wild, the birds have been properly reared and not force-fed", activists question how non-force-fed livers could qualify as foie gras.

EU regulations stipulate that to be classified as foie gras, a duck liver must weigh 300g while a goose liver must be 400g. The average weight of a duck liver is 50g and a goose liver 120g.

Ross Minett, campaigns manager at Advocates for Animals, said the birds would gorge voluntarily, but only to the extent that their livers would double in size.

This made it unlikely that the sixfold increase in liver size for foie gras could be produced without force-feeding the birds.

He said: "If Gordon Ramsay would just name his supplier, we could send an animal welfare inspector to verify his claims."

Ramsay declined to comment.

by Sara Guild

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 2-8 August 2001