Four former force-feeders lodged a complaint for deception a year ago against the Béarnais Euralis, the world’s leading producer of foie gras. They ensure that the company stuffs sick ducks, and administers them antibiotics.
Sick ducks stuffed with antibiotics on our plates? To believe the radio France Bleu Gascogne, the amateurs of foie gras have to worry. Five former duck-feeders indeed lodged a complaint in April 2012 against the Euralis group, the world’s largest producer of foie gras. The case suddenly exhumed yesterday by the regional radio of the South-West has since been repeated in a loop by many media. So, a new food scandal, or a simple media stunt by the anti-force-feeding, the question arises.
One thing is certain, the four former force-feeders worked for Euralis until 2007-2008. The fifth, Philippe Lapaque, worked “under contract” in 2002 and 2003, indicates the management. All accuse their former company of “abject practices”, in contradiction with the sanitary rules imposed to claim the Protected Geographical Indication South-West (IGP South-West). Pami these practices, the ex-feeders assure that Euralis feeds sick ducks, and administers them antibiotics, which is obviously prohibited by the IGP Sud-Ouest label. These revelations may shock consumers because this name is normally a guarantee of the good quality of these foie gras.
On his blog, and on the radio, Philippe Lapaque recounts in detail these “abject practices” which he witnessed. “Very quickly, I saw sick ducks coming in, with all kinds of pathologies, coryza, a type of duck flu, runny eyes, diarrhea, derszy, a disease that atrophies the growth of ducklings, and makes ducks dwarf, rickety, with bones as fragile as glass, ”he explains. More worryingly still, the man reveals the existence of a real illegal system of force-feeding and tells, “second surprise, the technicians supposed to teach you to make the pies to force-feed the ducks tell you that you have to put such and such a substance. , promacid to purge them, for example with caustic soda, or antibiotics when they are sick ”.
And to add more to the list which already seemed long, the man also speaks of the use of “copper sulphate to prevent candidiasis”, a fungus which settles in the crops of ducks, making them more cardboard. and more difficult to force-feed.
But at the giant of the foie gras industry, we reject all these accusations. Olivier Quero, in charge of the press at Euralis, recalls that the complaint had no follow-up. “In December 2012, we were heard by the Pau gendarmerie, and there was no indictment, as far as I know.” And in a press release, Euralis ensures that “the administration of antibiotics remains exceptional and only takes place after veterinary intervention and issuance of a prescription”. “After the administration of antibiotics, the duck is withdrawn from the IGP label,” said the press release. Finally, to end the controversy, the company regrets that these producers “tarnish the reputation of the cooperative and its 800 duck producers” and “deplores the unfounded accusations of these five former producers”.
So word against word? In any case, the plaintiff’s lawyer claims to have veterinary prescriptions attesting to the administration of these products to sick ducks. At the same time, Euralis claims to exercise strict control, notably through an independent control body. Result, difficult to disentangle the true from the false in this case. AFP indicated this morning that the complaint would have been dismissed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Pau last week. Contacted this morning, the latter still refuses for the moment to communicate on the file.
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