Iron deficiency anaemia in veal calves and dairy bull calves is a welfare concern in systems that restrict access to iron-containing feeds to produce pale meat.
Iron deficiency anaemia in veal calves causes significant suffering - weakness, susceptibility to infection, and the pallor that is itself a symptom of poor welfare. Systems that deliberately restrict iron to produce white meat cause preventable suffering. Rosé veal systems, where calves have access to feeds with natural iron, produce meat at welfare standards incomparably better than traditional white veal.