Is VION Fresh Meat West pork derived from castrated animals?
If pig farmers do not castrate their boars, the meat can produce a very unpleasant odour and taste as soon as it has been cooked (the so-called ‘boar odour’). The risk of this ‘boar odour’ is small, but supermarkets and butchers do not wish to take the risk of selling this meat. For this reason VION Fresh Meat West sells pork from castrated animals. At the end of 2007 the Dutch meat sector and the supermarket organisations developed a plan that by 1 January 2009 only fresh pork from animals castrated under anaesthetic would be sold. VION Food Group attaches great importance to the proper care of animals and takes into account the public’s concerns about this. VION Food Group has been actively and closely involved in the search for solutions to the castration problem. VION Food Group anticipates that from January 2009 it will be supplying pork from animals castrated under anaesthetic.
