BPEX launches pig welfare assurance database

The website allows vets to upload veterinary data straight into the database via a smartphone app to reveal the welfare of pigs they have visited on UK farms.

The pigs are assessed under the Real Welfare project  ̶  an industry-led project funded by BPEX to help pig producers demonstrate pig welfare and boost productivity, using animal-based measures. Pigs are assessed for a range of factors including: the presence or absence of lesions; body marks and lameness.

Highest welfare standards ​

Meanwhile, Tony Goodger, foodservice trade manager at BPEX, told FoodManufacture.co.uk​ that food manufacturers should adopt the Red Tractor logo as the most effective way of displaying that their products adhere to the highest welfare standards.

In this video, he also warned that 88% of pigs entering the European supply chain are from non-compliant farms. The EU must remedy the problem now or risk people questioning what other illegal practises may be being ignored by the authorities, said Goodger.

The EU banned the use of sow stalls from January 1. Goodger warned that although 10 countries are fully compliant, this only accounted for 12% of pigmeat on the market.