Malton Foods lifts ban on buying pigs
14 August 2000
Malton Foods lifts ban on buying pigs
by Alistair Driver
MALTON Foods, the countrys biggest pig processor, claims to have lifted its blanket ban on buying pigs from farmers in swine fever-hit East Anglia.
The ban was introduced last week following an outbreak of classical swine fever which has so far been confirmed on five farms in the area.
Malton had refused to buy pigs from farmers in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire who supply about 10% of pigs slaughtered by the company.
But company executives decided the ban was rendered unnecessary by steps taken to control the disease, said a Malton spokesman on Monday (14 August).
Malton is keen to send the right signals to farmers, he added, although pigs will not be bought from areas under movement restrictions because of the disease.
The company is expected to slaughter the pigs at its Middlesborough plant.
- Swine fever fallout may hit 1000 farms, FWi, 14 August, 2000
- Malton refuses East Anglian pigs, FWi, 11 August, 2000
- Young couple face pig cull misery, FWi, 11 August, 2000
- Swine fever cull on six new farms, FWi, 11 August, 2000