If you care about animal welfare, you should probably stay away from pork products in your local supermarkets. Our German neighbor has a lot in store in this area.
“Terrible” is the result of Greenpeace’s latest market audit from 2023, which looked at the living conditions of pigs before they found their way onto Austrian supermarket shelves. “More than 90 percent of the pork offered there still only meets the minimum legal standards,” the environmental protection organization said.
This means a combination of factory farming without access to nature and genetically modified soy from South America as animal feed, the import of which also causes the destruction of rainforests or savannahs. As a result, Greenpeace is calling on Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) to soon label livestock farming with information about keeping, origin and feed.
“You lose your appetite for schnitzel”
“You lose your appetite for schnitzel,” says Melanie Ebner, agricultural spokeswoman for Greenpeace in Austria. The share of pigs from conventional livestock farming with slightly more surface area per animal is only about five percent, while the NGO only arrived at about 1.5 percent from environmentally friendly organic farming. Greenpeace also pointed out the high use of antibiotics. Based on figures from AGES, this was more than 34 tons in 2022, which was used in agriculture, of which 67 percent ended up in pig troughs.
The result of the market control for the domestic pork range is not surprising: the highest grade was “satisfactory”, which Billa Plus received. Greenpeace gives Germany as an example of how things can be done differently, because here, with uniform and understandable information about the product about keeping and feeding the animals, there is more transparency for customers.
Consumers need better information
The NGO also criticizes the fact that Minister Rauch reached an agreement on a common livestock farming label with Austrian supermarket chains in 2022, but implementation is still pending. The problem for consumers: “When you shop in the supermarket, you usually don’t find out how the animals had to live,” says Ebner.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
