Are We Eating Sick Animals? The Worst Situation is with Salmon and Chicken

Meat consumption in Norway has doubled since the 1950s.

Today, the average Norwegian eats 55 kilos of meat per year. Most of it is red meat from pigs, sheep, and cows. A third is white meat like chicken, according to Animalia (link in Norwgian). 

Norwegians also eat 19 kilos of fish and seafood each year, according to the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Much of it is farmed salmon and trout.

But how healthy are the animals and fish that end up on our plates?

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Salmon are in the
worst condition.

(Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB)

“Salmon swim quietly around in the pens with weak hearts. They may have poor vision, poorly functioning gills, and large, open skin wounds. They often face multiple infections at once and experience physiological chaos before being released into the sea,” Edgard Brun said at a recent seminar. He is the department director at
the Norwegian Veterinary Institute.

More farmed salmon and trout are dying than ever before.

Salmon die before slaughter

Many of the salmon that survive life in the pens are so sick they cannot endure the trip to the slaughterhouse.

“Farmers have discovered that it’s better to
slaughter salmon directly in the pens to prevent the high mortality rates during transportation to land,” says veterinarian and fish health researcher Trygve Poppe.

“They are slaughtered
just in time. Slaughtered today,
dead by themselves tomorrow,”
says Trygve Poppe.

(Photo: Aksel Kjær Vidnes)

This could be a way to conceal the significant welfare issues affecting salmon, according to the Norwegian Fish Health Report 2023 from the Norwegian Veterinary Institute.

A third of salmon cannot be sold whole. These are fish with wounds and injuries.

“They need to be filleted and trimmed, with the damaged parts removed,” explains Poppe.

The salmon meat then ends up in stores as skinless fillets or salmon burgers.

It is not just salmon that live with illness and injuries

The livestock on land also become ill. Whether the health of cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens is good or poor depends on perspective and what factors are considered.

“In Norway, we have a very good animal health status. We combat infectious diseases that other countries have to live with,” says Synnøve Vatn, head of animal health and contingency planning at Animalia, which is owned by the meat industry.

Animalia describes itself as a neutral industry entity offering knowledge and expertise to Norwegian farmers and the Norwegian meat and egg industry.

In the fight against infectious diseases, Animalia collaborates with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the Veterinary Institute, researchers, slaughterhouses, dairies, veterinarians, and farmers.

This is why Norway does not have diseases such as mad cow disease, pseudorabies, malignant foot rot, and the deadly virulant Newcastle disease.

Norway has very few and well-controlled cases of bovine tuberculosis, sheep scab, scrapie, salmonella, and swine flu.

Some of the most serious diseases can be transmitted to humans. Others have high mortality rates and severely impact farmers economically. The authorities have taken responsibility for maintaining control over these. 

But there are other, more common diseases.

The lesser-known diseases

“Other infectious diseases that the public sector can’t prioritise must be managed by the industry itself,” says Synnøve Vatn.

This also applies to what are called production diseases. Animals get these diseases because they live in crowded or poor conditions, or because their living environment does not align with their natural behaviour. 

The status of production diseases in land animals receives less attention, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority write in a report (link in Norwegian).

Chickens’
health problems
are well known.

Sore legs and weak hearts

Chickens grow very quickly. Within a month, they become large and heavy. Many of them develop heart failure and leg problems because the development of their hearts, tendons, and skeletons cannot keep pace with their rapid growth, according to the Veterinary Institute (link in Norwegian).

One in four chicken has moderate or severe gait abnormalities, according to a Norwegian study.

Burn injuries are a problem for chicks and hens. They urinate and defecate in the litter they stand on. This leads to wet litter with ammonia, which can cause sores on their feet and chests.

Chickens are now checked at slaughterhouses for such burns before being slaughtered. If many burns are found, the farmer receives less payment. This has resulted in fewer burn injuries.

Many laying hens suffer internal fractures. This can be due to breeding practices aimed at producing the largest possible eggs, according to Danish researchers who examined 4,800 hens internally. A total of 4,100 of them had fractures in the keel bone, which is located in the chest and is essential for flapping, breathing, and egg-laying. The fractures cause pain when the birds move, as shown in a British study.

Many believe that chicks and hens have too little space and too little to do. This leads to pecking, bullying, and general discomfort.

Inflamed udders and sore joints

It is not uncommon for dairy cows to suffer from udder inflammation. They also experience infections in the respiratory system, stomach, and intestines. Ringworm is a problem in some places in Norway, while milk fever and reproductive issues affect cows across the country, according to this year’s report from Animalia (link in Norwegian). 

Sheep and goats also suffer from udder inflammation.

Infections in the vagina and fallopian tubes are an issue for some sheep, while others experience difficult births.

Cows, sheep, and goats often stand on hard floors with varying amounts of bedding. This is why many of them develop feet and joints problems.

What about the pigs?

Two years ago, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority conducted a campaign to assess the health and welfare of the country’s pigs. They randomly selected 582 farms across the country.

They found violations in more than half of the pig farms. 

Many of the violations were related to the animals’ health. They found pigs that had not received adequate treatment when sick. They found wounds on tails and rumps, indicating that the pigs’ environment was not good enough. They also found many limping pigs.

This is consistent with Animalia’s overview of diseases, although their figures are lower than those found by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.

The most common health issue among pigs is joint diseases, according to Animalia (link in Norwegian). Next are respiratory, stomach, and intestinal inflammations, as well as tail biting.

Healthy animals provide the safest food

“Healthy animals have the best welfare, make the farmer’s daily life much more pleasant, utilise resources most effectively, and provide high-quality, safe food products to consumers,” says Synnøve Vatn.

She is nevertheless worried that Norway’s good animal health could lead to complacency.

“New diseases are constantly emerging, and old diseases are re-emerging. We must remain vigilant to maintain our high standards,” says Vatn.

Diseases enter barns and pens in many ways, including through humans.

“We live with a risk of new pathogens entering in various ways. We travel more than before, and more people are coming to Norway. Recently, we experienced the virus that causes bluetongue disease, which affects cattle and sheep, blowing over the Skagerrak with insects,” she says.

The farmer’s economy and time with their animals pose challenges.

“Money, or rather the lack of money, is a significant challenge for farmers because it means they often have to take additional jobs outside the farm to make a living. This can affect the time they have available to care for their livestock. This doesn’t mean they’re doing a poor job, but it’s part of the overall picture,” says Vatn.

“We need to support farmers, and they must be paid for the work they do,” she says.

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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik

Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no