(TheTimes) - French foie gras lovers may have to swallow their pride and turn to Bulgaria for the delicacy after a campaign to eradicate bird flu halted domestic production.

Under measures imposed by the government, France appears certain to face a shortage of foie gras in the run-up to Christmas — meaning a sharp rise in prices and an increase in imports from countries long scorned as irredeemably inferior, such as Bulgaria and Hungary. The move is likely to have long-term consequences too, with many small farms expected to go bankrupt.

The crisis began when three strains of bird flu — H5N1, H5N2