New President for Pig Veterinary Society
Nigel Woolfenden (pictured above) is now the new president of the Pig Veterinary Society.
Taking on this role, Nigel called for more honesty in the marketing of pork and bacon, in order to safeguard the on-farm progress made in pig welfare.
“Transparency in the methods of farming should be obvious to all purchasers of pork products and requires honest labelling. Lack of transparency will undermine the impetus for further improvements in pig welfare. The labelling of some products such as ‘Cumberland’ sausage and ‘Melton Mowbray’ pork pies when they contain imported pork has been misleading,” he said.
“UK farm assured welfare standards are amongst the highest in the world, which is denoted by the Red Tractor logo on pork, ham and bacon. The UK has led the rest of the EU in sow welfare for over a decade and thus the voluntary adoption by the major supermarkets of a new code of practice is welcome. The code will give consumers confidence in the provenance of the pork in their purchases, and in turn consumer support will give UK pig farms the backing they need to invest in even higher pig health and welfare standards.”
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
