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New flap over fois gras

A Spanish company has just won the fois gras industry's top award — without force-feeding the birds. But the French say that doesn't even count as fois gras.

TEXT OF STORY

SCOTT JAGOW: France produces most of the world’s foie gras so the fact that a Spanish company just won the industry’s top award isn’t going over well in France.

French producers say the Spaniards aren’t making real foie gras because the geese aren’t force-fed.

Graham Keeley is a reporter with the Times of London.

GRAHAM KEELEY: The Spanish companies say what they do is they allow the geese and ducks to fatten themselves up naturally before they are to go and migrate for winter and that’s when they slaughter them. It’s a kind of, if you like, free-range, way of rearing the geese.

The Spanish firm says see you can make good foie gras without mistreating animals.