Fortnum's foie gras comes in for trading standards probe

Fortnum & Mason is to be investigated by trading standards officers for selling foie gras despite promising all its meat is produced to the "highest welfare standards".

The Piccadilly store has come under increasing pressure from celebrities including Twiggy, Ricky Gervais, Sir Roger Moore and ex-Hollyoaks star and Legally Blonde actress Carley Stenson who support a campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

They accuse Fortnum's of "goose torture" because of the "barbaric" process of making foie gras, artificially fattening the livers of ducks and geese by force-feeding.

Westminster council trading standards said the sale of foie gras contravenes the store's corporate social responsibility policy which promises to sell only meat produced to the "highest welfare standards".

Its owners face changing its policy or facing legal action for a potential breach of consumer protection laws.

Twiggy said: "Foie gras has no place on British shelves, let alone in a shop that so blatantly trades on its British heritage."

Fortnum's told The Observer that the store agreed that its corporate social responsibility policy needed "further clarification".