Response By HFAC To PETA's Press Release Regarding Tasty Burger

HERNDON, Va., Dec. 22, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ninety-five percent of Americans obviously must disagree with PETA's statement that the only humane meal is a vegan one, since they are not vegans. 

Although PETA claims it supports companies that are trying to reduce suffering, "Obviously that is not the truth. PETA's goal is to eliminate the use of all animals raised for food, "said Adele Douglass, Executive Director of Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC). 

PETA believes that "meat may be marginally less cruel to produce it can never be humane," says Douglass. "Therefore, PETA's definition of a humane meal is a vegan one."  

However, for those Americans who eat meat, there is a definition of "humane."  That definition is found in the standards written by the 37-member Scientific Committee of Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC). These are the standards that all animals on the Certified Humane® program must meet. This includes slaughter, which requires animals go to their ends peacefully.  

For livestock slaughter, those standards are written by Dr. Temple Grandin, a member of the HFAC Scientific Committee, for the American Meat Institute. For poultry, the slaughter standards are written by the poultry welfare experts on that scientific panel.

Meanwhile, describing the Certified Humane® program as "animals crammed into sheds…jabbed with electric prods and subjected to other horrors" is completely inaccurate concerning the standards that farms in the program are required to meet. 

All those standards have proven space requirements that meet the needs of the specific species and were written in order for the animals to exhibit normal, natural behaviors. The standards prohibit the use of electric prods. 

Although PETA may have intimidated Tasty Burger into removing the Certified Humane® logo from its menu, the Tasty Burger folks understand the importance and value of the Certified Humane® program. 

The company's menu still says the following:

"Tasty Burger is committed to serving the freshest, most wholesome, and best tasting beef possible. We have visited the pastures of the family ranches where our cattle graze to get a first-hand understanding of where great beef comes from. Our all natural beef meets HFAC third party review standards at all stages and is NEVER given any growth hormones or antibiotics."

OUR BURGERS 1/3 LB. CERTIFIED ALL NATURAL BEEF**

**Meets HFAC third-party review standards at all stages, which include nutritious diet without antibiotics, or hormones, animals raised with shelter, resting areas, sufficient space and the ability to engage in natural behaviors.

For additional information, visit HFAC's Website at, www.certifiedhumane.org.

About Humane Farm Animal Care
Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) is the leading international non-profit certification organization improving the lives of farm animals in food production. The Certified Humane® designation assures consumers that meat, poultry, egg, or dairy products they purchase have been produced according to HFAC's precise standards for humane farm animal treatment. Animals must receive a nutritious diet without antibiotics or hormones and must be raised with shelter, resting areas and space sufficient to support natural behavior. Since the HFAC program was unveiled in May 2003, more than 110 companies, representing thousands of farms and 96.7 million farm animals, have been certified through the program, which now operates in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Peru, and Chile. To learn more about HFAC, visit www.certifiedhumane.org.

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SOURCE Humane Farm Animal Care