Pig castration in France: more animal welfare friendly practices Patrick Chevillon IFIP, The French Pig and Pork Institute

A Recent evolution In France Before 2000: castration of all piglets in France (the market need fat and no risk boar tainted meat) Directive 2000/120/CE: before 7 days of life 2004 EFSA opinion: pain is an evidence 2006-2008: participation of IFIP and INRA to 2 EU research programs PIGCAS and ALCASDE 2008 to 2011: Pig producers ask IFIP and INRA to work on analgesia after and anaesthesia before castration Since 1 January 2012, all the piglets in France receive at minimum an analgesia after castration. Producers use MELOXICAM.

THE NEXT STEP: ENTIRE MALE?? Can we stay alone?  declaration of Brussels signed by the major organisations of producers in EUROPE COUNTRIES WHO STARTED Netherland : anaesthesia CO2 + Entire male production: 45% of pig farmers of Vion (end of 2012) 100 % in 2015 Germany : QS requires analgesia (Meloxicam) since 2009 (IFIP estimation of 10 % of Entire Males) Tonniës : 14 000 entire males /week (June2011) + Westfleisch : 3 000 entire males /week (end of 2011). Possibility to slaughter entire males since 1/07/2012) in QS program UK: non castration (100 %, younger entire males) Spain : 60 % of entire males and 80 % in Catalonia (younger pigs) Norway anaesthesia lidocaïne by a vet Denmark : analgesia + entire males : 10 % Belgium: imunocastration Improvac 5 - 10 % + entire males (June 2013 new step) Italy : BIG ISSUE with HEAVY PIGS France: The Leader Cooperative COOPERL started a significant production of entire males in 2013 + collective initiatives at a research stage are started

Key ISSUES: Reduction of occurrence of boar tainted meat and Detection at the abattoir Unpleasant odours and flavours Need heating to be perceived Borne by fat Only in a fraction of the animals Not everyone is sensitive Product dependent Animal dependent Consumer dependent Boar taint is mostly a problem for Fresh meat which is cooked at home High fat products that are cooked at home

What is Boar taint ? FEEDING FACTORS GENETIC FACTORS Two main compounds in fat tissue held as responsible for boar taint by consumer (off-odour) Skatole Androstenone (manure odour) (urine odour) Perceived unpleasant Perceived pleasant Not perceived Perceived unpleasant FEEDING FACTORS GENETIC FACTORS

Example of the COOPERL TRIAL (2 years)

The key sucess and results, example COOPERL

The key sucess and results, example COOPERL

Another key issue: the detection of positives carcasses at abattoir Currently a new French program to test HUMAN NOSE methods funded by INAPORC  2 abattoirs involved  15 assessors assess odour  2300 carcasses in test with chemical analysis of skatole an androstenone in fat (60 €/analysis) Objectives: validate or not the Human nose method in French slaughterhouses. Final Results expected in JUNE 2013 IFIP participates in the new EU RESEARCH PROJECT « BOARCHECK » to find the best methods to sort boar tainted meat

French consumers can eat entire male fresh pork sorted on odour (IFIP RESULTS 1) Entire male pork with very low levels of androstenone and skatole is as well accepted as gilt pork  there is no need to look for other compounds No difference

French consumers eating entire male fresh pork (IFIP RESULTS 2 ) In the absence of skatole, the acceptability threshold for androstenone is likely higher than 2.0 µg / g liquid fat This conclusion may not be valid for cooking odour Further investigations are needed regarding interactions between the perceptions of androstenone and skatole No difference

Recent results from the literature suggest that skatole acceptance level might be in the range of 0.10 μg/g or lower (instead of the usually accepted 0.20 – 0.25 μg/g) NEW EU RESEARCH PROJECT “CAMPIG” STARTED in 2013 to investigate the interaction Skatole/ Androstenone for consumer acceptance

Utilisation of tainted meat in processed products: French results Proportion of tainted fat in the product Low fat products are more favourable Dilution by untainted meat Serving temperature Products that are consumed cold are more favourable Masking Spices, smoking, …. Reduce fat Mask Dilute Consume cold

Use of Tainted meat in processed products Low-risk products

Use of Tainted meat in processed products Higher risk products

French IFIP experience on the use of tainted meat in processed products Andros Ska tenone tole Sausage with spices 0.4-2.3 < 0.20 Smoked lardons 0.4-2.8 < 0.20 Served warm Processed loin 0.9-3.5 < 0.20 Dry sausage 0.3-5.2 < 0.20 Cooked ham 0.3-2.3 < 0.20 Served cold

Odour when opening the bag French IFIP experience on the use of tainted meat in processed products Overall Odour Flavour Consume rating again Sausage with spices NS NS NS NS Smoked lardons NS NS NS NS Served warm Processed loin NS NS NS NS Dry sausage NS NS NS NS Cooked ham NS * NS NS Served cold Odour when opening the bag

Traditionnal TOULOUSE Sausage Sausage with limited spices (salt & pepper) Batches of boar meat with androstenone levels 0.5, 1 and 2 μg/g of fat and low skatole levels were compared with gilt meat Reduced acceptance on odour and flavour with androstenone levels as low as 0.5 μg/g of pure fat

French experience on the use of tainted meat in processed products Good opportunities for using meat with high levels of androstenone in the absence of high skatole Undiluted products with high fat content which are served warm are however risky The possibility to use meat tainted with skatole remains to be investigated The limited available literature suggests that there are opportunities, especially with smoke We need to continue studies in Europe ....

Conclusion Stopping castration is not so easy and it’s not a real demand of the market in France (Fresh meat in Butchery or Supermarkets) or the Processing Meat Industry. There are important challenges to solve before stopping castration and the stakeholders need to go step by step. The COOPERL example show that it’s takes 2 years of trial before decision to go on with a specific guideline at the farm level. Reliable detection at abattoir is the main issue at present and requires to federate all the efforts of the private and collective researches in EUROPE. It’s the key success to stop castration. The acceptance limits for skatole and androstenone in fat of entire males need to be finalised depending of the final product. Some traditional products need fat and good fat (e.g. dry ham in France, Spain, Italy). So stopping castration for all the production would be very difficult. More research on friendly practices around castration need to be performed (appropriate practices for analgesia and anaesthesia).

Thank you for your attention