Dive Brief:
- Tyson will require cattle and chicken producers it buys from to meet new animal-welfare standards next year and submit to third-party audits for compliance.
- The news came in an announcement by a Tyson executive to the annual convention of the Iowa Cattlemen Association's. The new standards are similar to those Tyson rolled out a year ago for hog producers.
- Tyson and other meat sellers face growing pressure from consumers who are outraged by how animals are treated in food production.
Dive Insight:
We applaud Tyson's stance here. And we expect that consumers will as well. Because for every vegan in the U.S. who chooses not to eat meat, there are dozens of people who want to eat it, but find the industry that produces it to be repulsive. Still, as pleased as we are when companies like Tyson seek to reduce cruelty, we have to note that rules aren't the answer. Those new standards for hog treatment were in place when Tyson was hit with footage of particularly horrific treatment of animals in its supply chain.