Smithfield reiterates group housing vow

Monday, February 20, 2012

Smithfield Foods has reiterated that it will group house all of its sows by 2017, following a complaint by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to the Securities and Exchange Commission that the producer/packer "has falsely conveyed that Smithfield has higher animal welfare and environmental standards that it actually does." HSUS said "misleading claims" are "in violation of federal security laws."

The HSUS takes issue with videos Smithfield posted online about its Murphy Brown production unit and HSUS claims that Smithfield says it provides its sows with "ideal living conditions" even though most are confined to gestation crates.

Smithfield released the videos after HSUS "investigators" posted critical videos taken on company farms in December 2010, and June 2011.

The December Smithfield announcement also said that 30 per cent of its sows would be housed in groups by the end of 2011. Smithfield's CEO, Larry Pope, said the company "took a two-year holiday" from its 2007 plan while it dealt with the economic downturn.

Smithfield produces 17 million hogs a year from 460 farms and raises hogs with 2,135 "independent farmers and contract growers," says a Dec. 8 press release. BP