A new web page from the National Pig Association will show whether food retailers and processors have pledged to stop sourcing pork meat produced illegally in the European Union.
Around 40% of pork products imported to the UK from elsewhere in the EU are illegal, following a ban on the prolonged confinement of sows in stalls, according to the UK trade body. The new rule came into force across the 27-nation bloc this month.
The National Pig Association (NPA) has set up an online 'hall of fame and shame', and written to retailers and processors in the UK to warn that they will be blacklisted on the website if they continue to source meat from pigs reared in stalls.
Up to 40,000 pigs an hour are being delivered to continental European processing plants from illegally-operated pig farms, according to NPA calculations.
"As Britain imports around 60% of its processed pork, it is inevitable that many consumers are unwittingly supporting this unacceptable European trade in illegally-farmed pigs," said NPA general manager Dr Zoe Davies.
"Shoppers must be told which British retailers and food companies they can trust not to take part in this trade."
