Most food companies do not communicate real animal welfare benefits | Livestock

Around 95% of global companies in the food sector recognize the importance of animal welfare and are addressing the issue with clearer governance and commitment policies. However, according to the Business Benchmark on Animal Welfare (BBFAW) report, published this Thursday (25/4), companies do not usually communicate the implementation of commitments made in this area.

A total of 150 global food producers, retailers and food service companies, which together have a turnover of US$4.9 trillion, were classified by BBFAW, including companies such as McDonalds, Tesco and Tyson Foods.

The worst results were in the “Performance Impact” indicator, which measures the extent to which corporations demonstrate real welfare benefits for farmed animals in their global supply chain. According to the research, 93% of companies received the lowest ratings (“E” or “F”) – that is, the benefits of the practice are not communicated by the companies.

The highest “Performance Impact” scores were applied to just six companies (4%), which achieved a “C” rating: Marks & Spencer (UK), Groupe Danone (France), Premier Foods (UK), Waitrose (UK), Cranswick PLC (UK) and Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund (Switzerland).

Cage-free chicken farming

Among the positive points of the report are that the vast majority of companies evaluated (95%) now identify the welfare of farmed animals as a relevant commercial issue, compared to 79% in 2012, and that overall, there are levels commitments to free-range eggs, with 73% of the 141 companies that have eggs in their supply chains now having commitments to free-range eggs.

It was also found that 25% of the companies evaluated recognize the need to reduce dependence on foods of animal origin as a relevant commercial issue, with 21 companies, including Greggs, Sodexo and Carrefour, publishing targets with defined deadlines.

Confinements, transport and medicines

The document also showed that there is still a long way to go for the food sector. According to BBFAW, 19 global food companies, including Yum China Holdings (owner of KFC in China) and Domino’s Pizza Inc (USA), have not yet published a formal farm animal welfare policy.

Regarding restricted confinement, 18% of companies, including Tyson Foods and the WH Group (which includes American pork producer Smithfield), do not have commitment policies to end the use of restricted confinement. Furthermore, only 9% of companies with pigs in their supply chain (13 out of 137 companies) have set achievable goals to end the use of “sow stalls” or “gestation cages” – metal enclosures that barely fit an adult pig. and which are prohibited in jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, Sweden and several US states.

The report also identified that only 27% of companies evaluated report that the transport of live farmed animals is restricted to short trips (i.e. four hours or less for birds and rabbits; eight hours for other species, and only 40% of companies have commitments to end the routine prophylactic and metaphylactic use of antibiotics – despite the risk of increasing antibiotic resistance.

“Today’s analysis shows there is a long way to go for the food sector to turn awareness and commitment into demonstrable benefits for animal welfare, with large numbers of farmed animals still suffering from inhumane practices such as confinement restricted or routine mutilations” Nicky Amos, Executive Director of BBFAW.

This Thursday, a new Business Benchmark on Animal Welfare (BBFAW) was also launched, which introduces more rigorous criteria, with greater focus on the way companies deliver welfare performance.