Iceland, Asda and Aldi among supermarkets selling meat from pigs ‘painfully mutilated’ on UK factory farms

Lidl, Tesco and Sainsbury also linked to ‘cruel’ practices of tail- and teeth-cutting

Pigs have their tails and teeth cut to stop them injuring each other in confined spaces (Getty Images)

The UK’s biggest supermarkets, including Iceland, Asda and Aldi, are selling meat from pigs that have had their teeth and tails cut without pain relief on factory farms, a report claims.

Three “mutilations” – tail-cutting, teeth cutting and castration - “are very painful, cause a huge amount of unnecessary suffering and should not be routinely carried out”, according to activists who examined supermarket supply chains.  

Routine tail cutting is banned in the UK, but a loophole means more than seven in 10 pigs end up having their tails cut each year, the document says.

Farms cut piglets’ teeth and tails to prevent them from biting and injuring each other in frustration “when they are crammed together on factory farms”.

The report, Who’s Telling Porkies, by World Animal Protection, covers supermarkets’ pig welfare and import policies, and how much information they offer on implementation of welfare codes in their supply chains.  

Iceland was ranked the lowest of the 10 supermarkets in the report, followed by Asda in ninth place.  

Aldi was eighth – “marginally higher in the ranking but still performing poorly” - and Lidl seventh. Sainsbury’s came sixth, followed by the Co-op and Tesco.  

Waitrose came out best, with Marks & Spencer second.  

Tail-cutting and teeth clipping are often routinely carried out when piglets are around a week old or younger. Under government regulations, tail-docking may be used as a last resort once other changes, such as reducing crowding and providing straw, have failed to prevent biting.

A scientific study  in 2004 said it was likely that the effects of clipping and grinding teeth “induced severe pain in piglets”.  

Castration is not commonly carried out in the UK, but some countries the supermarkets import from still routinely castrate piglets, the charity says. “Therefore UK supermarkets that import pork should still include this in their policies and reporting,” the report said.

World Animal Protection, which is calling for the three practices to be stopped, says supermarkets should help the industry to improve welfare.

When shown a draft copy of the report, some supermarkets updated their policies and public reports, WAP said. Morrison’s extended its policies to all pork products, Tesco published data on enrichment and updated its import policy, Sainsbury’s published data on enrichment and castration for UK suppliers, Aldi and Lidl published data on castration for UK suppliers, and Asda introduced reporting on tail docking.

Lindsay Duncan, of World Animal Protection, said: “Pigs are intelligent and social animals. Not only is it against the law in the UK, but it's sheer cruelty to mutilate piglets in this way when we know higher welfare practices would make it unnecessary.”

In the case of the lowest seven supermarkets, Ms Duncan said WAP believed the last-minute changes did not go far enough, adding that supermarkets have a responsibility to improve animal-welfare standards and customers have a right to demand to see data regularly.

When asked by The Independent, Iceland declined to comment.

A Co-op spokesperson said: “Animal welfare is a priority for the Co-op and we have strict policies to avoid suffering.” The chain says it is totally free from teeth reduction, castration and short-tail docking.

An Asda spokeswoman said: “We have comprehensive animal welfare policies in place, and our priority is to source from producers accredited to Red Tractor or RSPCA-assured standards. We recently updated our corporate website to provide customers with more information on our sourcing and welfare policies.” 

A Tesco spokesperson said: “All our British pork is reared to recognised farm assurance standards such as Red Tractor or RSPCA Assured. Our own Tesco Welfare Approved standard, which exceeds government-approved industry welfare standards, applies to all pork sold at Tesco regardless of its country of origin.”

Andrew Opie, of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Our members take their responsibilities to animal welfare very seriously, and the farmers who supply pork products work to exacting standards to ensure animal welfare is upheld.”

Aldi said its core range of fresh meat was all British and Red Tractor-assured, and its “specially selected” pork range was RSPCA Assured, adding: “We are disappointed by our ranking but have met with the World Animal Protection and will continue to work with them and others to improve reporting of our high animal welfare standards.”

The Independent also asked Sainsbury, Morrison's, Lidl and the National Pig Association to respond to the report but had not received any responses by the time of publication.