Veal production has undergone significant welfare reforms in recent years. Understanding current practices helps consumers make informed choices.
Veal production reform illustrates how welfare improvements can be achieved through both legislation and consumer choice. White veal - historically produced by confining calves in crates to keep meat pale - was correctly banned for its welfare harms. Rose veal, produced from group-housed dairy calves given a natural diet, has good welfare outcomes and uses animals that would otherwise be killed at birth. The welfare case for rose veal is genuinely positive compared to the alternative: shooting day-old calves. Consumer willingness to buy welfare-certified rose veal from dairy calves would save tens of thousands of animals from immediate slaughter and provide them with weeks of good welfare before a humane death.