EU livestock farmers disagree with ban on red meat advertising

The European Commission is considering a ban on advertising of red MEAT, which should limit the negative impact of animal husbandry on the environment, human HEALTH and promote the humane treatment of animals.

However, representatives of the EU meat industry consider such a decision unreasonable and capable of harming both the industry and consumers. Seven major industry organizations have addressed an open letter to EU Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski.

In their opinion, the arguments of the supporters of the advertising ban distort the real facts. For example, this concerns the harm of meat to public health. In fact, advertising for the consumption of red meat is equated with advertising for ALCOHOL and tobacco products.

- Meanwhile, meat is not alcohol and cigarettes, it does not affect the functioning of the brain and is not addictive. Human nutrition scientists confirm that for hundreds of thousands of years, meat has been an important component of the human diet, a source of protein, amino acids and substances necessary for human development, including vitamin B12, which is found mainly only in animal products, including meat. And iron in the heme form is better absorbed by the human body than the non-heme form found in plants, industry representatives point out.

According to them, the theses about the harmfulness of meat refer only to improper processing or eating excessive amounts of it.

As for the impact on the environment, here, too, livestock breeders have counterarguments.

- All water "used" for meat production is returned to the environment. Animal faeces fertilizer is a natural method of fertilizing fields that has been used for thousands of years and is more environmentally friendly than synthetic fertilizers. In addition, modern farms use systems that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and even convert the resulting methane into energy, the appeal notes.

Farmers believe that the planned changes can affect everyone, regardless of the scale of their animal welfare efforts, environmental decisions or product quality.