MANY farmers have been outraged this week by two major cancer charities asking for people to go meat-free for a month with a view to raising money for them.

A social media storm has seen many from the industry – which has been a huge supporter of the charities, Macmillan and Cancer Research – cancel standing orders and stop giving donations to both.

The Co-op is to reduce the amount of nitrites used in its own-label British bacon range by 60%, in what it described as a first for major UK retailers.

Nitrites, a type of preservative used to cure bacon, will be reduced by this level across 24 fresh, British Co-op lines – and in all its ranges, including its premium tier. This includes back and streaky bacon, medallions and bacon chops as well as lardons.

The retailer said this would come at no additional cost to consumers. The reduced nitrite bacon will be launched in stores with 11 core lines this month, followed by 13 premium lines later the year.

The move is a response to consumer concerns over the link, set out in a World Health Organisation-sponsored study in 2015, between the consumption of nitrite-cured processed meats and cancer, particularly bowel cancer.

The Co-op explained that without the use of nitrites to cure bacon, it would simply be classified as salty pork. Nitrites are required for preservation and to produce the typical characteristics of flavour, taste and colour of bacon, it said.

Breige Donaghy, director of delicious food at Co-op, said: “As a responsible retailer, we look for ways to make real change to help our members and customers to make even better choices when shopping in our stores.

 

AHDB Pork’s weekly pig prices, slaughter data and commentary for Great Britain

In the week ended January 25, the EU-spec SPP moved upwards (+0.23p). This increase pushes it about 24p higher than both the previous year and the 5-year average.

The increase in price was particularly influenced by a 2.07p increase in prices for pigs 100kg and over, to 148.30p/kg. There were also fewer pigs in this weight band, which despite the increase still averages well below the overall average.

Average carcase weights fell this week (-550g) to 85.75kg. Despite the reduction, it is still over 200g higher than last year.

Estimated slaughter for the week totalled 184,000 head, 2,900 head lower than the previous week.

The EU-spec APP rose in the week ended January 18, in contrast to the SPP which dropped in this week. As such the gap between the SPP and APP widened from last week to 2.08p.

For the week ended January 25, the 7kg weaner price dropped back, though the price is over £7/head above last year and the 5-year average. Unfortunately, the sample size was too small to publish a 30kg weaner price.

 

(Reuters) – Burger King, saying it never billed its “Impossible Whoppers” as vegan or promised to cook them a particular way, said a proposed class action by a vegan customer over the plant-based patties being cooked on the same grills as meat burgers should be thrown out.

In a court filing on Thursday, Burger King said plaintiff Phillip Williams should have asked how Impossible Whoppers were cooked before ordering one that he said was “coated in meat by-products” at an Atlanta drive-through.

Burger King said reasonable customers would ask about its cooking methods, and Williams would have known he could request an alternative method had he done even “the smallest amount of investigation” on its website or by reading media reports.

Williams “assumed that an Impossible Whopper would satisfy his own particularly strict form of veganism … solely because he asked a Burger King restaurant employee to ‘hold the mayo,’” Burger King said. “This claim has no basis.”

Impossible Foods Inc, which helped create the Impossible Whopper, has said it was designed for meat eaters who want to consume less animal protein, not for vegans or vegetarians.

Mobile abattoirs may help farms hit by the rapid loss of small abattoirs over the last few years.

There are now fewer than 100 small abattoirs, those slaughtering fewer than 1,000 animals a year, according to the Sustainable Food Trust, with four closing in 2019 and another six believed to be under threat.

 

Higher costs, more regulation and the very low hide and skin prices have driven slaughterhouse closures.

One region affected by abattoir closure is the Cotswolds.

 

That prompted Paddy Hoare of Fir Farm, Lower Swell, Gloucestershire, to develop a mobile abattoir.

 

The farm has a mission to be as sustainable as possible and rears Hereford cattle, Wiltshire Horn sheep and Saddleback pigs, selling its meat locally and online.

 

He said: “We have been working closely with the Food Standards Agency to ensure any system is fully compliant with all welfare, waste and safety regulations.

 

“They have been supportive and constructive, recognising the need for a mobile service.”

 

Aldi has started selling British-produced Wagyu beef burgers in what has been described as the ‘next big thing in the meat industry’.

The product, hitting the retailer’s shelves from today (30 January), are produced from the Japanese Wagyu cattle breed, but born and reared in Yorkshire.

The pack-of-two burgers are for sale for just £2.99 – a fraction of the price typically paid for the prized meat.

Aldi says the burgers are made with 100% British meat and that it ‘champions British quality’.

To be classified as Wagyu, the meat must originate from one of four traditional Japanese cattle breeds; Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Shorthorn and Japanese Polled.

The beef is renowned for being one of the most expensive meats in the world and contains a high percentage of monosaturated fats, which gives the meat its distinctive marbling effect.

The National Pig Association has submitted a formal complaint to Ofcom regarding the Channel 4 programme ‘How to Steal Pigs and Influence People’.

The group said that because of the programme, Channel 4 could be considered complicit in the theft of pigs.

The NPA found it ‘astonishing’ that it showed 23-year-old ‘pignapper’ Wesley Omar stealing five pigs on separate occasions.

The complaint letter says: “Wesley already has a criminal conviction for theft of a pig from a previous incursion which was reported in the programme, so the production company were clearly aware of his record.

“NPA believes that Channel 4 has acted incredibly irresponsibly in this instance and should therefore be held accountable in some way.

“At the very least, they should furnish the police with information concerning any criminal activity gathered during the course of the programme production.”

The NPA goes on to say that the programme – particularly the title and the promotion before the broadcast – ‘explicitly glamorises illegal activity’.

“Therefore, we would be grateful if Ofcom would consider whether it has breached Rule 3.1 of the Broadcasting Code (material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or to lead to disorder must not be included in television or radio services or BBC ODPS).”

African Swine Fever in China is having a knock-on effect on the pork and other red meat sectors right across the world, including in Wales, according to market analysis by Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC).

The impact of the pig virus has seen 50% of China’s pork production wiped out. As pork is a large proportion of the diet of the world’s most populous country, the effect has been felt worldwide in a rise in demand – and prices – for pork.

The available HMRC export statistics for the first 11 months of 2019 (excluding December) show that pork exports from the UK to China have doubled compared to the previous year, and China is now the largest single export destination for British pork.

Recent figures on abattoir throughput in the UK shows that December 2019 saw the highest year-on-year increase in pig slaughterings, as other countries prepare to meet the demand for protein imports from the Chinese market.

The African Swine Fever crisis in China and other global factors are also making their impact felt in global trade patterns for other types of protein. Imports of lamb into the UK were down by 19.1%, partly due to countries such as New Zealand looking to increase trade with China, while production in Australia was hit by drought.

In addition to global trends, exchange rates and political factors are impacting on the performance of beef and lamb exports from Wales – a crucial sector which is worth £200 million annually to the Welsh economy. Although 2019 January to November export figures are currently only available on a UK-wide basis, a rise in Welsh Lamb sales to markets as diverse as Germany and the Middle East is likely to be a major contributor to a year-on-year increase of 16.2% in the volume of sheepmeat exports from the UK.

“With just December’s figures left to be confirmed, 2019 looks like one of the biggest years on record for exports of sheepmeat from Wales, and a significant one too for beef exports,” said HCC Data Analyst Glesni Phillips. “The pig health crisis in China is driving global demand for pork, and we can see changing priorities for other major meat-producing countries as a result, with more New Zealand lamb, for instance, heading to Asia.”

The area of the European Union affected by the African swine fever (ASF) is “progressively expanding”, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said in its latest update on the disease, published on Thursday (30 January).

The report, which focuses on the period from November 2018 to October 2019, found that the disease is slowly moving across the EU, mainly in a south-western direction, with a total of nine affected countries so far. These include Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Belgium, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.

However, the report also found that the Czech Republic is now officially ASF-free, although the disease was confirmed as present in neighbouring Slovakia.

The prevalence of the disease was found to vary substantially between member states, due to multiple influences including the structure of domestic pig production, geographical conditions, and the characteristics of the wild boar population.

According to the report, backyard, i.e. non-commercial, farms, present particular challenges for ASF eradication programmes, due to uncontrolled movements of pigs and people, poor biosecurity and the identification of holdings.

Human-mediated spread, for example between local villages, was also found to be a feature of the ASF epidemic in areas where backyard farms are common.

 

The UK and the New South Wales government in Australia is this week collaborate on a joint, simulated exercise to practice biosecurity measures in the event of an African swine fever outbreak.

The joint exercise involving Defra, the Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA) and the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) in New South Wales is taking place over three days and will strengthen the two nations’ joint control strategies for the disease.

There has never been an outbreak of ASF in the UK and there are robust measures in place to protect against it, including joint operations with Border Force and a policy to seize and destroy all illegal imports of meat and meat products.

However, ASF is a major risk to the pig industries of both Australia and the UK due to trade links with and proximity to affected regions in Asia and Europe.

In the event of an outbreak, disease control measures will mean the governments will put in place movement controls for all pig-related businesses, potentially including feed delivery, slaughter houses, pig breeding units or movement of animals to sales.

The focus of the exercise will be to assess how the movement restrictions would be applied in practice to best manage an ASF outbreak.