EXCLUSIVE: Siouxsie Sioux Urges Fortnum & Mason to Remove 'Torture in a Tin' Foie Gras from Shelves

Peta has exclusively revealed to IBTimes UK that punk rock legend Siouxsie Sioux has called on Fortnum & Mason to stop selling "torture in a tin" foie gras in an ever-growing campaign against the department store.

The singer wrote to Fortnum & Mason chief executive Ewan Venters to ask him to remove foie gras from the store's shelves.

In the letter, Sioux wrote: "My friends at Peta tell me that Fortnum & Mason are one of the last remaining retailers to still sell vile foie gras. They also tell me that despite massive public outcry, condemnation from every major animal welfare group, and video evidence showing gross abuse on the farms which supply your fois gras distributor, Fortnum's continues to peddle this product known as 'torture in a tin'."

Sioux joins an ever-growing list of celebrities, including Morrissey, Chrissie Hynde and Pamela Anderson, who have written to the company about its continued sale of foie gras, which is made from geese being force-fed through metal pipes rammed down their throats.

Huge amounts of grain and fat are pumped into the stomachs of the geese, resulting in their liver swelling up to as much as 10 times their normal size, until it presses against their lungs.

Undercover Peta investigators filmed inside the Sarlat Perigord cooperative, from which they say Fortnum & Mason's distributor sources foie gras, showing how the animals suffer as a result of its production.

Get wtih the times

Sioux continued: "I am shocked. A product that causes so much suffering that it's illegal to produce in the UK should surely not be sold in an iconic British department store like Fortnum & Mason? As CEO, you have the power to end the company's involvement in this cruelty and I hope you do so immediately.

"Music, fashion and taste evolve. Other iconic British shops such as Selfridges and Harvey Nichols have listened to their customers and now realise that selling foie gras is a faux pas. So please Mr Venters, get with the times and take this vile produce off your shelves."

Responding to the sale of foie gras, a statement from Fortnum & Mason said: "Foie gras is sold in shops throughout the UK, and is used in many top restaurants. We do understand that it is not to some people's taste, and we respect their right to make their feelings known.

"However, foie gras has been on sale at Fortnum's down the centuries, and a sizeable number of our customers enjoy it. We believe they should have the freedom to choose whether to buy it or not."