The Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) yesterday called for companies to adopt new animal welfare policies for pigs, including banning live pig auctions.
The group also rated eight retail channels based on their friendliness to pig welfare.
Taiwan consumes 7.4 million pigs annually, but about 6 million, or 83 percent, pass through live auctions in meat markets around the country, EAST chief executive Chune Fang-chu (寸舫筑) said.
Photo: CNA
If supermarkets switch to selling pork directly transported from farms to slaughterhouses, the number of auctioned pigs could drop by 800,000 to about 72 percent, Chune said.
That could inspire food companies and restaurant chains to adopt similar policies, Chune added.
Since 2016, EAST has advocated for the government to replace the auctions with a pig carcass grading system, like in the US, Japan, South Korea and Europe.
This saves the pig from the auction process and having to pass through multiple stages of transportation, and ensures high quality, hygienic pork for consumers, Chune said.
EAST ranked eight major retailers on three factors, each worth three points for a total of nine.
The three factors were the proportion of live-auction pork to non-auction pork, policies of pork sourcing from other channels and pig welfare procurement policies.
Carrefour ranked first with four points, followed by City’super at second, and a three-way tie between Mia C’bon, Costco and Simple Mart in third place.
RT-Mart, PX Mart and A-Mart came in last place, the group said.
Only 21 of 60 surveyed pork products came from pigs not subject to live auctions, and most retailers lacked policies on avoiding live-auction pork or comprehensive animal welfare procurement policies, it said.
The group urged retailers to adopt new policies and exclude purchases of live-auction pork to help improve the welfare and treatment of millions of pigs in Taiwan.
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