A survey conducted by The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has revealed that the use of CCTV monitoring in red meat slaughterhouses has increased since 2015.
A total of 278 operating slaughterhouses in England and Wales voluntarily took part in the survey this May. This was the fourth survey of its kind that the FSA has organised.
Key findings from the survey showed that 102 out of 207 red meat slaughterhouses (49.3%) in England and Wales have some form of CCTV in use for animal welfare purposes.
These figures have risen slightly since the findings of the same survey taken in 2015, when 105 out of 215 red meat slaughterhouses (48.8%) in England and Wales were shown to use CCTV.
The survey also reported on white meat slaughterhouses. This year’s survey showed that 50 out of 71 white meat slaughterhouses (70.4%) use CCTV, a slight decline in comparison to the 51 out of 72 white meat slaughterhouses (70.8%) indicated in the 2015 survey.
The FSA supports the use of CCTV by business operators as part of their system for monitoring and protecting animal welfare. The agency asserted that CCTV does not replace direct oversight by management, or checks by officials, but it can improve their effectiveness.
A spokesperson from the FSA said: “We estimate that in England and Wales 92% of cattle, 96% of pigs, 88% of sheep and 99% of poultry throughput comes from premises with some form of CCTV in use.
“Whilst we have been encouraged by increase in use of CCTV in recent years the latest survey results appear to suggest that uptake may have plateaued.
“However, the FSA is well placed to continue to work with industry and Government partners to encourage further uptake.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
