UK Minister pledges support to pig industry

16-12-2008 | Home | News

UK Farming Minister Jane Kennedy has assured pig producers that she will support the British pig industry following meetings last week.

Kennedy was given a guided tour along the pigmeat supply chain, from which she pledged to work with producers to address many of the concerns currently facing the industry.

Speaking after the event she said: “The experience served to confirm the fact that the British pig industry is producing some of the finest food to very high standards – from pig feed through animal welfare, to slaughter and processing onto our dinner tables.

“We can be proud of the quality assurance standards that run throughout the whole supply chain and we can have confidence that pork and other pigmeat products produced and processed by British farmers in the UK are safe to eat as well as tasty.

“I heard first hand of the concerns that are preoccupying the industry, from the recent incidents involving the risk of contamination from other country’s products to the burden of regulation that many face through to the worries that the instability of prices in the current global market is having on prices.

“There is clearly a lot of work for us to do and I am reassured that all those involved are willing to work co-operatively to re-infuse confidence in the UK pig industry.”