Pork in the Supermarket: Still Little from Better Husbandry, Only 1% Organic

"AMA Animal Welfare" offers the animals twice as much space as legally required, along with straw bedding, access to an outdoor area, and GMO-free feeding. However, for the vast majority of pigs, a whole life confined in the barn is the norm, "on hard concrete floors, with hardly any straw and enrichment material," as Greenpeace described this "problematic reality." These are conditions that favor diseases and high antibiotic use.

Pork from Better Husbandry: Silence at Penny, Change at Billa

According to the announcement, the increase in the area of better husbandry is mainly due to the improvements in the range at Billa Plus, the market check winner with the grade "good," and Billa "satisfactory." In contrast, the discounter Penny is sharply criticized for being the only company that did not want to disclose the husbandry conditions. While Sebastian Theissing-Matei, agriculture expert at Greenpeace, noted "a change in the meat range" at Billa and Billa Plus, he expressed incomprehension about Penny, which also belongs to the German Rewe Group: "Anyone who takes animal welfare seriously cannot refuse transparency," he stated.

In the ranking of the nine examined retail chains weighted by market share, which also considered labeling, origin, and the range of plant-based meat alternatives, Penny ended up - as expected - in last place and received the grade "Insufficient" together with Unimarkt. The remaining five providers - Interspar, M-Preis, Hofer, Lidl, Spar - all landed with a "sufficient" on places three to six.

The NGO criticized the still non-mandatory labeling of husbandry conditions for fresh meat in Austria. Thus, there is hardly any orientation when shopping and a confusing multitude of quality seals. Greenpeace recommends reducing overall meat consumption and opting more often for plant-based alternatives. "Those who eat meat should choose organic. Less - and therefore higher quality - meat consumption is better for our health, for the animals, and for the environment," Theissing-Matei concluded.

>> More Culinary News

(APA/Red.)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.