Wendy's Dumps Foie Gras From Menu in Japan

PETA Complains to Restaurant Chain, Which Confirms It Will No Longer Serve the Diseased Livers of Force-Fed Ducks and Geese

For Immediate Release:
December 18, 2012

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Dublin, Ohio -- Following PETA's intense campaign, which included letters to company executives, pressure at an annual shareholder meeting, and a series of action alerts to members and supporters around the world, Wendy's has removed foie gras burgers from its menus in Japan. PETA first learned of the move on Twitter and later received confirmation. Foie gras, French for "fatty liver," is made from the grossly enlarged and diseased livers of painfully force-fed ducks and geese.

"Wendy's has done the right thing by ending sales of a product so vile that its production is banned in more than a dozen countries," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "Shoving metal pipes down birds' throats and force-feeding them is an abomination."

During foie gras production, up to 4 pounds of grain and fat are pumped into the stomachs of ducks and geese two or three times a day. The birds' livers become diseased and swell to up to 10 times their normal size. The pipes puncture many birds' throats, causing some animals to bleed to death. Investigations at major foie gras farms in the U.S. as well as at many farms across Europe have revealed sick, dying, and dead animals—as graphically revealed in an undercover investigative video narrated by Academy Award–winning actor Kate Winslet. Foie gras is so inhumane that California banned its sale and production in July. Force-feeding has also been outlawed in Israel, the U.K., and a dozen other countries.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.