Last October the Badajoz-based Patería de Sousa company was awarded the foie gras industry's top prize at the SIAL international food exhibition in Paris for its innovatively ecological version of goose liver extract.

Now, French makers are demanding that the prize be withdrawn as they argue that, because the Spanish company does not force-feed the birds: "This cannot be called foie gras because it is strictly defined as a product from an animal which has been fattened," argues Marie-Pierre Pée, who is the general secretary of the French association of foie gras manufacturers (CIFOG).

The French, who produce three quarters of the world's foie gras, argue that the product's distinctive flavour can only be achieved by force-feeding the birds for four weeks prior to slaughter by making them ingest grain through a metal tube that goes down the birds' throats.

However, the president of the Spanish company, Eduardo Sousa, defended his production methods by explaining that they slaughter their 'free-range' birds only after they have been allowed to fatten themselves up naturally immediately prior to their annual winter migration. "Foie gras is fattened liver and that's what we sell. Many countries are going to ban the practice of artificially fattening these birds and the French are worried about this," he said. 

A 90g can of Patería de Sousa foie gras costs around €50 and can be found at the El Corte Inglés department store and other leading retailers.