Animal welfare was put forward by Hughes in 1976. Hughes defined the welfare of animals raised on farms as "the state of complete mental and physical health of animals in harmony with their environment". In 1988, Fraser proposed that the purpose of animal welfare is to find a balance between extreme welfare and extreme production benefits. Animal welfare is an external condition to ensure animal well-being. Well-being refers to the feeling state of animals themselves, that is, the feeling state of "psychological pleasure", which includes no disease, no abnormal behavior, no psychological stress, depression and pain. Therefore, animal welfare reflects the objective conditions of animal living environment, and the quality of welfare conditions directly affects the well-being of animals.

There are five basic principles for animal welfare in western countries:

1) Enjoy freedom from hunger and thirst;

2) Enjoy the comfortable freedom of life;

3) Enjoy freedom from pain, injury and disease;

4) Enjoy the freedom to express nature;

5) Enjoy the freedom of life without fear and sadness.

1、 Inspection and certification

GFS can provide certification and second and third party evaluation for many animal welfare standards in the edible cattle, poultry, live pigs, dairy products, sheep, poultry eggs and other industries. The following are the standards that we can certify or review:

Industry standards

- NCC: National Chicken Council

- NTF: National Turkey Federation

- AMI: American Meat Association (eating cattle, pigs and sheep)

- Canadian Egg Farmers Association

- EU configured chicken cage

- Regulation on Review of BSE and Specific Risk Substances

- American Humane Association

Benefits of certification

With the increase of consumers' understanding of their food and social exposure, more and more companies require their suppliers to follow specific animal welfare guidelines. The scientific measures used to determine animal welfare include living conditions, behavior, life span, disease, physiological function, reproduction and immune suppression. From birth to slaughter, the guidelines for humane treatment are very important to ensure that animals are properly treated. It is increasingly important for producers, food service companies and retailers to understand and follow these standards, so as to limit risks within the company.