Pork safety and quality through livestock welfare: 1. Welfare of pigs on the farm

In this paper the impact of animal welfare on commercial pig farms to pork safety and quality is widely discussed and analyzed. The variety of stressors associated with farm practices, such as animal health and nutrition, breeding and reproduction, housing and environment, their interactions, the inputs and outputs, is presented for both the determination of on-farm welfare indicators and the estimation of their effects on pork safety and quality. Risk analysis and HACCP principles are applied as a valuable adjunct to farm practice in order to organize the information and analyze the representation of physical processes in quantitative mathematical terms, so that welfare indicators can be evaluated and predictions can be made. Finally, this study concludes by supporting the decision making process at farm level oriented towards animal welfare and food safety and quality, with supporting farm experience and scientific literature