At least level 2 for German poultry meat
Berlin. On Friday, the food retail companies involved in the Animal Welfare Initiative (ITW) presented a uniform labeling system for keeping meat (to the article "Commerce standardizes labeling of husbandry"). From April 2019, poultry, pork and beef in food retail will be marked with the digits 1 ("Stable housing"), 2 ("Stable housing plus"), 3 ("Outdoor climate") or 4 ("Premium") marked. For what is available in German grocery stores chicken and turkey meat this new label means that in the freshness segment Level 2, 3 and 4 poultry meat only is offered, in the case of frozen goods this applies to untreated poultry meat. Because last year, the German producers of chicken and turkey meat completely converted the corresponding food retail range to the criteria of the Animal Welfare Initiative, which corresponds to the new type of husbandry labeling 2. "In the future, every food retail customer will see at a glance: German chicken and turkey meat is produced according to animal welfare criteria that exceed the legal standards," says ZDG President Friedrich-Otto Ripke, emphasizing this special achievement of the German slaughter poultry industry. "In this way we achieve a really broad effect for more animal welfare - and at the same time the poultry meat produced according to higher animal welfare requirements remains affordable for all consumers."
More transparency also in gastronomy - first step: labeling of origin
While the food retail trade is taking another important step towards more transparency with the new type of husbandry labeling, the bulk consumer segment still lacks a correspondingly consumer-friendly regulation. "There is a lot of catching up to do here!", emphasizes ZDG President Ripke, with a view to the market share of well over 50 percent that restaurants, canteens and other communal catering facilities have for poultry. Ripke renews the consumer-relevant demand of the poultry industry: "The long overdue labeling of origin must be a first step towards more transparency in gastronomy."
About the ZDG
The Central Association of the German poultry industry e. V. represents as a trade roof and top organization, the interests of the German poultry industry at national and EU level towards political, official and professional organizations, the public and abroad. The approximately 8.000 members are organized in federal and state associations.
