Laws and regulations- Comparing our rules to international ones

Before I continue to write about the amazing work of farmers and the hardships they face I feel I need to set the record straight of the false accusations that the vegan and vegetarian community are spreading. In this country we have extremely high welfare standards for cow’s, sheep, pigs and chickens etc.

Firstly…

IN THIS COUNTRY YOU CANNOT GIVE COWS DRUGS TO PRODUCE MORE MILK

 Other countries do.

It all has to be natural and just through careful breeding, to help produce healthy cattle. In America they can give their cows’ specific hormone growth drugs to make their udders massive, which has been proven to affect humans. In America they are allowed more than double the white cell count than the U.K, meaning their milk does not include the same health benefits as ours and cows are more likely to get bacterial infections. In the U.K cow’s milk is checked every milking and if there are any problems farmers aren’t paid and the milk goes down the drain, although this is extremely rare. If a cow is on paracetamol, in the U.K the milk cannot be sold to the U.K consumers. Even though it would have almost no effect on the consumer in order to protect consumers they are taking no medicines without their knowledge. In this country the British herd is tested for all major diseases on a regular basis to ensure the health of the British Herd.

American farmers can give their cows growth hormones, the milk quality is inferior and the drugs they give the cows are transferable to humans. With post Brexit approaching there is talks of lowering our “superior” milk to their standards. This is not okay for trade, for the economy or for the health of the British citizens. (link to further reading on this topic at the end)

Comparison of Global Food Traceability Regulations and Requirements in the traceability and regulations report, the United Kingdom compared to countries around the world including Australia and United States, we were ranked as superior and were perfect in every single aspect of the report. China, Canada and U.S were the lowest. Most European countries marked perfect in all tests due to the EU regulations.

Every cow in the U.K (not EU) must have a passport. A cow cannot be sold unless its whole life can be traced. Every cow has to be sold with its passport for the safety of the consumers and the knowledge of the quality of cow. So when the Tesco horse meat scandal arose, that was outside the U.K production line, our quality beef is being exported to top restaurants all over the world. Even when I went to Germany, a leading farming country, they were selling SCOTTISH beef in their 5 star restaurant as they said it was the best quality in the world (their opinion). Other countries know our quality of beef is so fantastic, so why does some of the British Public not consume it or appreciate their own produce? Because they would rather pay less, for poorer quality meat from countries with poorer welfare standards.

British beef and Dairy is not filled with anything other than the vital nutrients with no chemicals added and there are no cows which are in process of being treated can enter the food chain. In the EU laws and regulations we cannot feed the cows anything harmful or enhancing it’s all down to amazing farming practices and breeding from our skilled country workforce.

I recommend if you are at all unsure of the food we produce in the U.K from meat to dairy to sheep read the EU regulations (information below) it describes all the obstacles from the feed for the cows, to the farmers care, to the people in lab coats triple checking for citizens health, to the supermarkets to ensure it is all in the interest of the cows health, the people’s health and for overall care for the country.

Tioraid!


https://www.farminguk.com/News/Britain-could-weaken-regulations-to-allow-inferior-US-dairy-imports_48736.html

Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety

Charlebois, S., Sterling, B., Haratifar, S. and Naing, S. (2014). Comparison of Global Food Traceability Regulations and Requirements. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 13(5), pp.1104-1123.