Noord-Brabant slaughterhouse's permit revoked over poor hygiene, animal welfare
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) intends to withdraw the accreditation of a small slaughterhouse in Noord-Brabant due to hygiene and animal welfare issues. Despite multiple improvement plans, the NVWA has “no confidence that the company can ensure animal welfare and hygiene are in order,” the regulator said on Friday.
The NVWA inspected the slaughterhouse, which mainly slaughters sheep, in October 2023. It found multiple issues. The food areas weren’t clean, the temperature of the water in the sterilizer used to disinfect knives was only 43.2 degrees (it should be at least 82 degrees), employees did not observe good personal hygiene, and the animals waiting for slaughter had no access to drinking water.
The regulator suspended the slaughterhouse’s accreditation, banning the company from slaughtering any animals until it has implemented improvements to the NVWA’s satisfaction.
After submitting several improvement plans, the NVWA allowed the company to do a test slaughter under strict supervision in February. “Hygiene was again found to be inadequate during slaughter. Dirty fur touched the meat of the carcasses and became contaminated. Employees also appeared not to be aware of the need for hygienic working,” the NVWA said.
The slaughterhouse then implemented a new improvement plan and performed another test slaughter in March. This time, the hygiene was okay, but the animal welfare was still subpar. For example, the slaughterhouse workers didn’t stun the animals sufficiently, so they regained consciousness during the slaughter process. “That is a serious violation.”
The NVWA concluded that it cannot trust the slaughterhouse to ensure proper hygiene and animal welfare in the future. It will, therefore, withdraw its slaughterhouse accreditation.
“The slaughterhouse can, in accordance with the law, apply for new accreditation from the NVWA,” the regulator said. “The NVWA is obliged to assess any new application.”
