Viva!
USA
PO Box
49023
Atlanta
GA30359
Tel: 404 315
8881
Fax: 404 315
8685
email:
info@vivausa.org
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January 18, 2001
For more information contact: lauren Ornelas
404/315-8881
Duck Meat Recall
Viva! advises consumers to stay clear of duck
meat
Viva! has just learned that over 4,000 pounds of duck meat
from Serenade Foods (also doing business as Maple Leaf
Farms) has been voluntarily pulled because it might be
contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, according to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection
Service.
Listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headaches, neck
stiffness, nausea and can potentially be fatal, particularly
for those with weak immune systems.
“The intensive confinement of animals in factory farms is
breeding diseases that can be harmful to people,” said
lauren Ornelas, US Campaigns Director for Viva! “We once
again encourage people to protect animals and their own
health and boycott duck meat.”
Viva! has been waging a campaign against the duck industry’s
cruelty since September of 2000. Viva!’s undercover footage
of Maple Leaf’s farms in several states showed ducks in
filthy conditions.
Factory farmed ducks are forced to live in crowded
conditions, indoors, without enough water to immerse their
heads. Most farms offer ducks water only in the form of
nipple drinkers (a pipe with holes where water drops out).
Without an adequate amount of water, these aquatic birds
find it difficult to keep warm and they may also develop eye
problems that can result in blindness. Most
companies—including Maple Leaf Farms—also practice
de-billing. This process involves amputating a portion of
the duck’s sensitive bill.
Viva! is working to convince stores such as Whole Foods,
Trader Joe’s and Wal-Mart SuperCenters to stop carrying duck
meat – especially from companies such as Maple Leaf Farms
and Grimaud of California.
For more information, including our 30
page report on the duck industry in the United States, contact Viva! or
see our website at www.vivausa.org.
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