Waitrose outlaws use of farrowing crates in own brand bacon

- Published: 24 July, 2007

Waitrose has announced that the use of farrowing crates will be completely outlawed in the production of all its own brand bacon and lardon products sourced from Denmark.

Waitrose said the use of farrowing crates had been banned in the the UK for four years and it has been liaising with Danish producers to persuade them to follow the UK's example for the past three years.

The launch of the 'happy bacon' initiative by Waitrose has been welcomed by Compassion in World Farming.

Instead of keeping sows in metal breeding crates, the industry's equivalent to battery farming, all Waitrose pigs will be born outside where sow and piglet can express natural behaviour, said a spokesman for the supermarket chain.