Sentiment has not turned in favour of British Action will put consumers off British pig producers' campaign against imports will at best prove ineffective and at worst counter-productive, potentially turning food shoppers against pork from all sources. This is one interpretation of a recent study of UK consumer attitudes by market researcher NOP for the Danish Bacon and Meat Council. The poll of 1,000 housewives in September, when farmers were attracting heavy media coverage with claims of low animal welfare and meat safety standards in Continental pig industries, found "evidence of increased concern about pig production in general, with levels of sensitivity surpassing those recorded in 1994-95 when welfare issues became prominently debated, arising from concerns about the exports of live sheep and veal calves," according to DBMC. However, it suggests sentiment has not changed in favour of the British industry: "There is no evidence of any shift in consumers' perception of individual countries' performance in welfare standards achieved in pig production." A striking feature of the survey results is the limited interest shown by consumers. Asked which countries treat pigs particularly well, 59% of the housewives could offer no opinion. Ironically in view of the home producers' campaign the percentage rating British teatment of pigs highly had slipped slightly since 1995, while the shoppers' opinion of Denmark had improved significantly. When questioned from the opposite angle, 72% of respondents ventured no opinion on which countries treat pigs badly. By this measure Britain's reputation was slightly worse than Denmark's. Mystifyingly, France was seen as by far the worst country in its treatment of pigs. DBMC concludes from the research findings that the British producers campaign risks "lowering public perception of pig production in general, which may yet discourage consumption of pigmeat". {{MEAT }}

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