It may not be immediately obvious, but in the UK each year we import significant volumes of pork, beef and poultry meat from across the English channel, with exports of these key foodstuffs from European Union countries totalling more than 1.4 million tonnes in 2025. In addition, millions of EU-produced eggs find their way to Britain every year, many destined for use in manufacturing and catering.
How EU-produced meat and eggs are produced therefore matters to UK consumers, whether it’s animal health and welfare standards on farms, during transport and at slaughterhouses, environmental impacts, or the treatment of workers within the supply chains that serve us.
Recent years have seen a stream of revelations connected to all these aspects (and more) of the EU’s mighty meat and livestock machine, shining a much-needed light on parts of the chain that industry chiefs would prefer remain hidden.
But now another, virtually invisible, consequence of EU meat production has emerged, one that threatens not just environmental fall-out across Europe, but, potentially, the health of its people too.
