Veal production has undergone significant welfare reform since the EU banned individual veal crates in 2007. Understanding current standards and remaining gaps informs consumer choices.
Veal production welfare has improved significantly since the EU ban on individual veal crates, which previously confined calves in spaces too small to turn around for the duration of their lives. The welfare improvements of group housing allow social interaction, play, and movement that are fundamental to calf behavioral needs. However, white veal production using highly restricted iron-depleted diets to produce pale flesh causes anemia with associated welfare impacts on appetite, activity, and immune function. Welfare-positive veal production avoids iron restriction, provides solid feed as well as milk, and uses higher space allowances that allow natural calf behavior. Rose veal produced from dairy male calves using higher-welfare standards represents a better outcome than either white veal or killing at birth.