Why Do We Only Use British Pork?

TLDR version: Why do we only use British pork? High welfare standards.

Here at Breakfast Champion we are very proud of only using British pork to make all of our bacon, sausages, and, well, anything we have that has pork in it. That's not out of some vague sense of patriotism (we're all from the UK originally over here), but rather because of the high standards found in British farming methods. Some of which are hangovers from our time as a member of the EU, but, in quite a few cases, are actually above and beyond what even the EU has to offer.

Being a meat lover and an animal lover aren't mutual exclusive...

With all the meat we use we do our absolute best to source it only from farms/countries that have the highest animal welfare standards. So, what makes British pork particular appealing welfare-wise? We've listed our top four reasons below...

1. Sow Stalls

Sow stalls are metal cages that female pigs live in for 16 weeks during pregnancy, and during suckling. They are considered cruel due to the sow's inability to move during this time. They have been banned in the UK since 1999, and in the EU they are only allowed for a period of four weeks. They are still unregulated in 41 US states, and across the whole of Canada.

A typical barn full of sow stalls...

And that's the first reason we use British pork...

2. Ractopamine

 
This is the drug that pigs who are all about the 'gainz' are taking. Banned in the UK since 1996, ractopamine is still legal in Brazil, Canada, and the USA, where they like their pigs to be proper wedge mate. As well as making them wedge it has also been described as leading to pigs suffering from "hyperactivity, trembling, broken limbs, an inability to walk, and death".

Not in ours it ain't...

But that's not all! Once this gets into humans it can cause anxiety, can have an adverse effect on the human cardiovascular system, can cause food poisoning, and is also believed to be carcinogenic (nice).

That's reason number two...

3. Pig Castration

Whilst still technically legal in the UK, 95% of piglets are not castrated due to the positive impact of the Red Tractor scheme for customer transparency in animal welfare. Pork is not allowed to carry the Red Tractor kite mark if they have been.

I decided against the pig castration picture...

And, unlike the USA and Canada, those 5% who are unlucky enough to be outside the Red Tractor standards in the UK are at least anaesthetised during the procedure. Unanaesthetised castration...my eyes are watering just thinking about it.

That's reason number 3...

4. Antibiotics

This is one I'm pretty sure we're all well aware of both the state of play (see the graph below if you aren't), and the possible negative effects of just throwing antibiotics at animals (or humans for that case).

And it's not just the pork...

The UK, alongside the EU (credit where it's due), are out on their own on this one, with most of the world in a sort of animal antibiotic party that never ends! In the UK the use of antibiotics for growth promotion in livestock is banned and the routine preventative use of antibiotics is being phased out by government, vetirinary profession and industry initiatives.

And that's reason number 4...

Why does it matter?

At a basic level happier, healthier animals, with freedom to roam, and not stuffed full of chemicals and medication, means better tasting, healthier bacon and sausages. 

A happy pig is a tasty pig...

Breakfast Champion will never use meat from anywhere that high animal welfare can't be guaranteed.

Scan to order!