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.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS