LONDON: Holiday travelers boarding international cruises laid on by Thomson holidays will no longer be able to order foie-gras at dinner, due to concerns about its cruel production. Viva!, Europe's largest campaigning vegetarian organization, is claiming victory after the chain decided to remove it from its menus with immediate effect when they learned about the abject cruelty involved in the production of the ‘delicacy'. Foie-gras is produced by force feeding ducks or geese large amounts of food so that their livers swell to up to ten times the normal size. A pipe is shoved down the bird's esophagus and food is forced into the stomach. Newly appointed TUI Travel cruise managing director, Fraser Ellacott, said in a letter to Viva!: “We have reviewed our food content on all our ships within the fleet and can confirm that foie-gras has been removed with immediate effect. “I can assure you that as part of my overall review of our business, the important factors of sustainable development and ethical standards generally, will feature very highly.” Viva! campaigns director, Justin Kerswell, says: “We would like to congratulate Thomson for making the decision to remove foie-gras from their menus. Such a barbaric product has no place on any dinner table and we hope that other companies will follow suit and review their policy on its availability. “Viva! will be writing to other cruise companies with the same request, I sincerely hope they also decide to ditch foie-gras, to keep high cruelty off the high seas.” Foie-gras is produced by force feeding ducks or geese large amounts of food so that their livers swell to up to ten times the normal size. A pipe is shoved down the bird's esophagus and food is forced into the stomach. The process is repeated two or three times daily for two to three weeks until the birds develop fatty liver disease. They are then slaughtered. Over 90 percent of birds used in foie-gras production are ducks, with around a million birds dying during force-feeding each year. BM/Viva!
