After the customs clearance arranged last week in the United Kingdom, for the first time an official request arrives in the European Union. The initiative comes from the French company Gourmey, which would like to sell its laboratory-grown foie gras. Similar requests were also forwarded by Gourmey to the government authorities of the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the USA and Singapore. As per procedure, the main step expected in the EU will be approval by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The evaluation process by the technical body will last at least 18 months, at the end of which, the product may possibly be marketed in the 27 EU countries.

The "Trojan horse" for the legalization of synthetic foie gras could be represented by the controversies linked to the methods of production of the food, which involves the force-feeding of farmed geese. For France, foie gras remains a culinary tradition carried out with particular pride, however other EU members have banned its production: among these Denmark, Germany, Poland and Italy itself, which however authorizes its consumption.