Consumer attitudes towards castration of piglets and alternatives to surgical castration

Consumer response to the possible use of a vaccine method to control boar taint v. physical piglet castration with anaesthesia: a quantitative study in four European countries

“…taste) concerns. In contrast, Fredriksen et al (2010) attributed Norwegian consumers' scepticism towards the vaccine method to fear of residuals in meat from vaccinated pigs, and to their apparent contentment with the current local practice of physical castration with anaesthesia.…”

“…The challenge that will be addressed in this study is to investigate the likelihood that EU consumers would not be willing to accept or purchase pork from immunised pigs for reasons of perceived food safety risk (e.g. fear for residuals among Norwegian consumers as reported by Fredriksen et al (2010)). Few studies have concentrated on such pre-purchase attitudes and decision processes, and the available studies pertain to survey approaches on a single country level, for example, Hennessy and Newbold (2004;Australia), Lagerkvist et al (2006) and Liljenstolpe (2008;Sweden), Giffin et al (2008) and HuberEicher and Spring (2008;Switzerland), Belgium) and Fredriksen et al (2010;Norway).…”

“…Consumer opinion was investigated through interviewing consumer organisations, which does not necessarily coincide with individual views of consumers. Except for the Swiss study by Huber-Eicher and Spring (2008), Liljenstolpe (2008; who did not specifically address the vaccine method) and Fredriksen et al (2010) in Vanhonacker and Verbeke Norway (who used the term 'medical castration' and presented the use of anaesthesia as the standard procedure), previous studies mostly provided reassurance to the pig industry, denoting a favourable consumer attitude with regard to the vaccine method. linked this favourable attitude mainly to a better perception score on animal welfare and a higher consumer acceptance, in spite of some uncertainty among consumers related to price.…”

A performance test for boar taint compounds in live boars

“…As an intermediary step, signatories agreed to implement analgesia and/or anaesthesia by 2012 (European Declaration on Alternatives to Surgical Castration, 2011). Although the current method of surgical castration using an anaesthetic is generally accepted by retailers and consumers (Fredriksen et al, 2011;Tuyttens et al, 2011), it is considered a transitional, short-term step towards the long-term goal of completely eliminating surgical castration. Feasible alternatives must be explored and implemented within the next 5 years.…”

“…Excellent reviews on welfare aspects (von Borell et al, 2009), meat quality considerations ) and economic implications (de Roest et al, 2009) of the various alternatives have been published. Although approved for use in over 60 countries worldwide, immunocastration is regarded sceptically by many retailers and consumers because of fear of residues in meat and unknown long-term effects on humans (Fredriksen et al, 2011). Finishing intact boars, on the other hand, is considered a more natural and economically advantageous approach because of improved animal welfare, lower production costs, leaner carcasses and reduced N excretion (European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), 2004).…”