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food / travel

Foie Gras Farms Boom In China, As Forced-Fed Geese Banned Elsewhere

More and more Western governments have outlawed the methods required to fatten geese for the production of foie gras. Meanwhile, China turns out 1,000 tons a year, and is set to open the world's biggest production facility of the rich delicacy.

Man and geese (Denn)
Man and geese (Denn)

*NEWSBITES

The world's biggest goose farm and foie gras factory will soon be established on the banks of Poyang Lake, Jiangxi Province, China. The American investment company Creek Project is said to be putting $100 million into the venture.

This news released last week did not come from the company, but by way of the Darwin Natural Knowledge Society, a Beijing-based NGO focused on environmental protection.

Along with caviar and truffles, foie gras is part of the "top three" Western gourmet items. However, the forced feeding of geese in order to fatten up their livers has been plagued with controversy internationally. Countries like Germany and Poland outlaw the "gavage" method of feeding, while California prohibits the sale of foie gras. A similar procedure was believed to have first been performed by Egyptian farmers nearly 5,000 years ago.

Under strong condemnation from animal protection groups, the European Union has planned to stop, from 2019 onward, the production of this traditional cuisine. Currently, Hungary, which used to be the second-biggest producer, has gradually decreased its output. Israel, another major producer in the past, has also discontinued its production. And so it is not altogether surprising that production is shifting eastward to China.

The planned Poyang Lake project will raise around two million geese and eight million ducks annually. China already produces an estimated 1,000 tons of foie gras per year, double its output in 2006. France still remains No. 1 in this market with about 20,000 tons a year.

Last year, some French foie gras producers were shut out at the Cologne International Food Fair, triggering some Franco-German tension. "In international trade, the lack of respect of animals' welfare could create barriers, as well as damage a country's image," says Zhang Dan, co-founder of China's Animals Protection Reporters Salon.

Is foie gras safe to eat?

Geese or ducks forced to undergo gavage feeding, starting when they are between 10 and 14 weeks old, have a 20 to 30-centimeter-long tube stuck into their esophagus two or three times a day. Food is poured down this tube. Occasionally this causes the bursting of the esophagus. Sometimes the bird develops liver disease.

Animal protection groups try to deter people from eating foie gras, saying that "it's severely fatty stuff. A normal healthy liver contains only 5 % of fat whereas it is 50% in a piece of foie gras," points out Zhou.

"Feeding like this for two weeks is the limit of what the poor birds can bear. Beyond this limit, they'd die in large number," says Zhou Zungo, director of the World Animals Welfare Farms Association.

The forced feeding is not only harming the animals, but also the humans who eat the foie gras. "When a physical entity suddenly receives a large quantity of food, the liver quickly becomes exhausted and this causes them to produce large amounts of trace toxins," the nutrition expert Yu Li explained.

Worse still, "The corn that is used in the West to feed the geese or ducks is clean. In China, corn is often moldy. It contains cancer-causing aflatoxin. This is commonly detected by China's food industry and commerce departments. Geese or ducks subject to such a diet will be very unhealthy," Zhou stated.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

That Man In Mariupol: Is Putin Using A Body Double To Avoid Public Appearances?

Putin really is meeting with Xi in Moscow — we know that. But there are credible experts saying that the person who showed up in Mariupol the day before was someone else — the latest report that the Russian president uses a doppelganger for meetings and appearances.

screen grab of Putin in a dark down jacket

During the visit to Mariupol, the Presidential office only released screen grabs of a video

Russian President Press Office/TASS via ZUMA
Anna Akage

Have no doubt, the Vladimir Putin we’re seeing alongside Xi Jinping this week is the real Vladimir Putin. But it’s a question that is being asked after a range of credible experts have accused the Russian president of sending a body double for a high-profile visit this past weekend in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

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Reports and conspiracy theories have circulated in the past about the Russian leader using a stand-in because of health or security issues. But the reaction to the Kremlin leader's trip to Mariupol is the first time that multiple credible sources — including those who’ve spent time with him in the past — have cast doubt on the identity of the man who showed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city that Russia took over last spring after a months-long siege.

Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov is among those who confidently claim that a Putin look-alike, or rather one of his look-alikes, was in the Ukrainian city.

"Now that there is a war going on, I don't rule out the possibility that someone strongly resembling or disguised as Putin is playing his role," Gudkov said.

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