The National Pig Association (NPA) is urging shoppers for pork to look for the Red Tractor sign, which signifies meat has been produced to UK welfare standards. Although the practice of keeping sows in metal stalls was outlawed by the EU on January 1, the association suggests that farmers in Europe will flout the rules and estimates that 40,000 illegally farmed pigs an hour will arrive at processing plants, leading to British supermarkets being flooded with meat from illegally farmed animals.
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Stalls have not been used in the UK for years, but recent figures show that 80% of EU countries are ignoring the new law: France is only 33% compliant, Germany stands at 48% and Ireland at 57%. The NPA has prompted the EU to call a crisis meeting on January 28.
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