Category: Meat - Veal
Season: All
White veal is no longer produced in the UK.
Veal crates were banned in the UK (under the 1987 "Welfare of Calves Regulations" which came into effect in 1990)
Rosé Veal (UK)
Rosé Veal is from calves reared on farms in association with the UK RSPCA's stringent Freedom Foods programme.
It’s name comes from its pink colour, which is a result of the calves' being culled aged around 8 months, having been reared in a high welfare system, on a diet of milk, water and roughage, reared in open housing with natural light and straw bedding.
Rosé Veal is produced to the highest welfare standards, it has pink, not white, flesh and is tender and delicately flavoured.
Rosé Veal is the meat for the conscientious carnivore. Animal welfare standards for veal production in the UK are much higher than those required by European legislation.
The RSPCA gives high-welfare veal its approval with its Freedom Food label and would like more meat-eaters to buy it.
Buying high-welfare British veal
British Rosé veal should be getting easier to find in major supermarkets , most of which are members of Defra’s veal Forum.
Marks & Spencer stock only high-welfare , UK-reared Rosé veal and have stopped stocking imported white veal.
Tesco has announced that it, too, is phasing out imported veal and is stocking UK-reared high-welfare veal.
All Waitrose own-label veal is British high-welfare, from calves raised on a diet of milk, water and roughage, reared in open housing with natural light and straw bedding. It is sold in the majority of its stores and cuts available include osso bucco, rib and tenderloin. The meat is pink, though Waitrose doesn't call it Rosé veal.
Why not ask for Rosé veal at your local butchery or supermarket counter, if it is not British veal, let them know you want “only high-welfare British veal” not imported veal.
Rearing calves for veal:
In many countries, including the UK, veal is bound up with milk production and mostly comes from bull calves born to dairy cows.
Milking cows are separated from their calves after giving birth and continue lactating to supply milk for human consumption.
Female calves can become milkers, but the herd does not need male calves, and dairy breeds are not ideally suited to rearing for beef.
So redundant male calves can be kept with the herd for a few months and then killed for high-welfare British Rosé Veal.
However, the market for veal in the UK is not sustainable.
There are more calves produced than can be reared as high welfare veal, this is due to lack of consumer demand in the UK.
With no real home market for high-welfare British veal our dairy farmers still have to dispose of the unwanted calves.
The choice is horrific: the farmer either shoots them, when they're a few days old or condemns them to a horrendous fate, by exporting them (2 weeks old) to Europe, where white veal production thrives.
There they will be reared in conditions that are illegal in the UK , to produce white veil.
White is not right
White veal, which is not produced in the UK , has been rightly branded as cruel.
The calf is confined to crates or slatted floors and relatively small space to restrict its movement and atrophy the muscles. This, combined with a liquid diet low in iron and roughage, makes the meat tender and anaemically pale.
The production of veal in the UK has progressed since , the introduction of the 1987 "Welfare of Calves Regulations, banning the use of crates came into effect in 1990. The introduction of Rosé Veal, from calves reared on farms in association with the UK RSPCA's stringent Freedom Foods programme
British consumers’ attitudes to veal must change dramatically , for as long as there are milking cows in this country there will be unwanted dairy calves.
If more meat-eaters choose to eat high-welfare British veal , the result would be less suffering for thousands of veal calves, as the British dairies farmers at present have no home market for their veal.
Thousands of live calves are exported from Britain to supply the Continental market.
The key to reducing live calf exports is to develop a stronger home market for high-welfare British veal; this will reduce the availability of calves for the export journey to the Continent each year.
Other Types of Veal
Bob Veal , (USA only) from calves that are culled a few days after birth when they weigh 150 lb.
Non-Formula-Fed ("red" or "grain-fed") veal , from calves that are raised on grain, hay or other solid food in addition to milk.
The meat is darker in colour, and some additional marbling and fat may be apparent.
Usually marketed as calf rather than veal at 5-6 months of age (650-700 lb).
Formula-Fed (or "milk-fed") White veal , from calves that are raised on a nutritionally complete milk formula supplement.
The meat colour is ivory or creamy pink, with a firm, fine and velvety appearance.
Usually marketed as veal when they reach 18-20 weeks of age (450-500 lb).
Culinary uses
Veal has been an important ingredient in Italian and French cuisine since ancient times.
The veal is often in the form of cutlets, such as the Italian cotoletta or the famous Austrian dish wiener schnitzel.
As veal is lower in fat than many meats, care must be taken in preparation to ensure that it does not become tough.
In addition to providing meat, the bones of calves are used to make a stock that forms the base for sauces and soups such as demi-glace.
The stomachs are also used to produce rennet, used in the production of cheese.
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