Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of scientific evidence of (a) physical and (b) psychological pain experienced by animals in the production of foie gras made by force-feeding; and if he will publish his Department's assessment.

The production of foie gras by force feeding is banned in the UK as it is incompatible with our domestic legislation (Animal Welfare Act 2006), which makes it a criminal offence to allow an animal to suffer unnecessarily.

The Government has made clear that the production of foie gras using forcing feeding raises serious welfare concerns.