French foie gras prices to spike due to ravages of bird flu

The foie gras industry, hit by a bird flu crisis for the second year running, needs to change production methods to protect its poultry flocks, a producers group said on Thursday, warning that will raise the price of the delicacy.

France, which has the largest poultry flock in the European Union, has been severely hit by the H5N8 bird flu virus that has been spreading in Europe since late last year. It led to the death or culling of 3.7 million ducks in the southwestern part of the country, home to most foie gras producers, according to producers group Cifog.

“We are suffering but our responsibility now is to establish rules that will protect farmers against events that tend to recur,” said Christophe Barrailh, head of Cifog.

Bird flu, also called avian influenza, is generally transmitted by migrating wild birds’ feaces and feathers but the virus can then move from one farm to another if trucks or people exiting farms are not disinfected properly.

Ducks and geese, mostly reared for their livers that are artificially swollen through force-feeding to make foie gras, are most exposed to the virus due to free-range rearing and transport of animals between farms.