Fury over plans to relax animal feed ban

EU experts have said they want the rule relaxed to allow pig feed to be supplemented with poultry remains and vice versa.

But farming leaders and scientists say, that while such a practice may be safe, it would not be countenanced by the public.

Supermarkets have also stressed that they would not sell meat produced in this way.

Pressure to ease the seven-year old ban comes from the EU's Economic and Social Committee. Minutes from a meeting held by the committee in December say tests have already shown there is no safety risk from adding pig remains to chicken or poultry parts to pig fodder.

To this end the EU has invested around £1m to develop tests designed to distinguish between different types of animal feed.

Defra admitted while there was a total ban on processed animals protein in farmed feed in EU legislation, there was a proposal now to relax this ban.

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