California’s 2018 ballot measure Proposition 12, which set prohibitions on the sale of food products from farm animals locked in "cruel and extreme confinement," was fully implemented in the state, Monday, said The Humane Society of the United States.
Proposition 12’s egg and veal provisions have been in place for years; its pork provisions were effective in August 2023, but retailers in California were given until December 31 to sell any remaining non-compliant pork products that were already in the stream of commerce.
“We are thrilled that Proposition 12, the nation’s strongest farm animal protection law, is finally fully implemented. No animal deserves to spend her life in a cage where she’s virtually immobilized,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, in a statement. “From drafting the ballot initiative to successfully defending the measure in courts all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Humane Society of the United States has been at the center of fighting for this landmark law.”
Proposition 12 prohibits the in-state production and sale of products produced via the extreme confinement of mother pigs, egg-laying chickens, and calves used for veal. It bans the use of gestation crates, which are metal cages that prevent mother pigs from turning around since they're too small, for products sold in California.
The confinement of animals in the food system carries public health risks, according to the organization. Locking farm animals in gestation crates increases the risk of food safety threats like salmonella and E. coli. The American Public Health Association, Infectious Diseases Society of America, and Center for Food Safety voiced their support for the constitutionality of Proposition 12 and stated that when mother pigs are locked in crates that prevent them from even turning around, their immune systems become severely suppressed. This makes both them and their offspring “more susceptible to disease.”
Opponents of Proposition 12 note that the decision will negatively impact the economy. Pork lobbyists challenged the measure in courts, taking their case up to the Supreme Court of the U.S., which upheld the law in May 2023.
Major pork producers, restaurants, and grocery stores, including Albertsons, Chipotle, and Niman Ranch, have already made the transition to be compliant with the law. Companies like Hormel Foods, Clemens Food Group, Perdue, DuBreton Farms, and Tyson Foods have all publicly stated they can meet the demand for crate-free pork produced following the legislation's standards.
In addition to Proposition 12 in California, 14 states have passed similar laws addressing cruel farm animal containment, said the Humane Society.
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