Chickens fail meat inspections more often than pigs

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Broilers: 2.1 percent were unfit for consumption

Photo: Jens Büttner / dpa

By no means every animal that ends up in the slaughterhouse can be eaten.

According to the prescribed official meat inspections, many are simply not suitable for consumption.

This applies to chickens more often than to pigs.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, 0.2 percent of the 50.4 million fattening pigs slaughtered in German companies in 2021 were classified as inedible according to official meat inspection.

In contrast, of the 634 million broilers slaughtered, a whopping 2.1 percent or 13.5 million animals were unfit for consumption.

While the proportion of pigs unfit for consumption remained unchanged compared to the previous year, it increased significantly in the case of broilers.

In the previous year, the figure was still 1.7 percent.

In the broilers, the so-called deep dermatitis, an inflammation of the skin in the area of ​​the lower abdomen and the anus, was the main reason for unfitness (29.4 percent of the cases).

In 16.3 percent, the investigating staff reported ascites, which was the second most common finding.

Many animals are also unfit for slaughter due to damage

The main reason why pigs do not pass the meat inspection was abscesses, i.e. accumulations of pus in the tissue (36.2 percent of cases).

This was followed by deviations in smell, consistency or color (15 percent) and unspecified general diseases (12 percent).

In the so-called ante-mortem and meat inspection, official staff, such as veterinarians, inspect all animals delivered and slaughtered in approved slaughterhouses.

The competent veterinary authority reports the test results to the Federal Statistical Office every six months.

The numbers have only been collected in this form since 2019.

A long-term comparison is therefore only possible to a limited extent.

An examination of the pigs' organs showed that 5.4 percent of the slaughtered fattening pigs suffered from pneumonia.

The proportion fell slightly in 2021: In the two previous years, 5.7 and 6.6 percent respectively had an inflamed lung.

The opposite trend was observed for the livers: the livers of 10.4 percent of the fattening pigs examined were infested with parasites.

In previous years, this proportion had been 9.8 and 9.3 respectively.

In addition to such animal-related reasons for unfitness, the staff also documents so-called slaughter damage.

According to the Federal Office, they can be caused, for example, by insufficient bleeding of the animals.

In the case of fattening pigs, this was the case for 0.03 percent of all animals slaughtered - slightly more than in the previous year, when it was 0.02 percent.

When broilers were slaughtered, 0.4 percent of the animals were declared unfit for slaughter damage.

In the previous year, the proportion was still 0.3 percent.

apr/dpa