Your meat from farm to fridge

The slaughtering process is similar for sheep, pigs and cows: they are stunned (usually electronically) and their necks are cut. The hide is then removed and the animal is cut in two; the insides are taken out and the carcass is chilled (for hygiene reasons and because it makes them easier to cut up). Finally, the animal is butchered and microbiological testing takes place for bugs including E.coli and salmonella.

Pigs
Pigs are usually sold at 20-26 weeks for pork or bacon. Sows reared for breeding might survive until the age of 4 (by which point they may have given birth to 88 piglets).

Cows
Cows are slaughtered before the age of 30 months (when their risk of having BSE is low).

What can go wrong?
• In the past 10 years, more than 1,000 abattoirs in the UK have closed because of a combination of EU red tape and lack of funding. Now, only 340 remain. Farmers have been forced to transport their animals all over the country - and this is thought to have aided the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. As a result, many animals have ended up in mass burial grounds, or on funeral pyres.
• Unlicensed abattoirs – with lax safety procedures – may continue to pass diseases such as BSE into the food chain.
• The hides of cattle are usually pulled off by a machine. If they aren’t scrupulously clean, chunks of dirt and manure can drop off and spread parasites and diseases such as salmonella. However, at licensed plants inspectors are on site to help prevent such accidents.