Quality mark check issued 90 percent “poor pigs” – Austria –
More than 90 percent of pork in Austria does not meet any of the animal welfare and environmental criteria examined – this is the negative result of the quality mark guide with purchasing advice on pork in Austria’s supermarkets published by the environmental protection organization Greenpeace and the Vienna Animal Welfare Ombudsman (TOW). And so the conclusion is: “Unfortunately, the “poor pig” is still a reality in Austria,” summarizes Greenpeace.
On the occasion of the upcoming Easter, Greenpeace and TOW advise consumers to follow the shopping guide when buying Easter ham and to use organic products or products from animal welfare projects. Greenpeace and TOW are demanding that the Austrian federal government raise the minimum standards for keeping pigs and that the keeping conditions be legally labeled on the product.
“As early as 2020, we pointed out this misery with the Quality Mark Guide, since then the urgently needed reforms have been overslept fattening farms in Austria. Not even in those with the red-white-red AMA seal of approval,” criticizes Greenpeace agricultural expert Sebastian Theissing-Matei.
The legal minimum standards for keeping these reasonable animals are a sign of inadequacy for a country that likes to present itself as a pioneer in animal protection. The Austrian federal government must no longer stand idly by and must act urgently: by finally ambitiously revising the 1st animal husbandry ordinance and introducing global husbandry labeling directly on the product,” demands Eva Persy, head of the animal welfare ombudsman in Vienna.
The updated shopping guide takes a close look at 26 common seals and quality marks for pork in the supermarket and evaluates them according to twelve animal welfare and environmental protection criteria. For example, it was checked whether the respective quality mark guarantees that pigs WILL not have their curly tails cut off, whether the animals are fed without genetically engineered feed and whether fully slatted floors that are cruel to animals are prohibited. Conventional pork, even that with the red-white-red AMA seal of approval, does not meet any of the twelve criteria.
In contrast, the conventional animal welfare projects of Austrian supermarkets meet eight to nine of the criteria, organic brands meet ten to twelve. Pork from mainstream supermarkets Animal welfare projects are catching on and WILL be built up here and there, but it’s still a niche on the shelves. Organic pigs still only make up around three percent of all pigs in Austria.
“Anyone who buys pork, for example for Easter, should urgently follow the shopping guide and accordingly choose organic meat or meat from the supermarkets’ animal welfare projects. This protects the environment and guarantees the pigs a better life,” say Persy and Theissing-Matei.