Food Company Highlights Welfare Message

The importance of animal welfare in the production of food has been highlighted by new guidelines drawn up for its suppliers by global food processing giant Nestlé

The guidelines that were drafted with guidance from World Animal Protection, together with in-put from Mercy for Animals and the Humane Society of the United States, are based on the international five freedoms for animal welfare.

1. Freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition
2. Freedom from fear and distress
3. Freedom from physical and thermal discomfort
4. Freedom from pain, injury and disease
5. Freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour

The Commitment on Farm Animal Welfare has been added to Nestlé’s supplier guide and it spells out the company’s commitment to improving animal welfare across its global supply chains.

In the guidelines on the supplier code Nestlé says: “We share consumer, civil society organisation, government and investor concerns about the care, health and welfare of farm animals used in food production”.

The company adds that it also recognises the link between animal welfare and the health of animals raised for food.

And it says it believes that “robust farm animal health and welfare standards can have both a direct and an indirect impact on food quality and safety”.

Meanwhile a report in the UK indicates that calories and the food being eaten might not be the cause of obesity – it could all be down to lifestyle.

The report The Fat Lie by Christopher Snowdon says that UK consumers have been eating fewer calories over the years but changes in jobs and lifestyles are more likely to be the reason the population is getting fatter.

The report shows that less sugar and aft is being consumed by the population is taking less exercise both in and outside of work and in consequence is not burning off the calories being consumed.