(Bloomberg) -- A top meatpacker is halting sales of some pork products in California, in the first sign of fallout from the state’s new law demanding more space on farms for the animals.
Seaboard Foods, the second-largest U.S. pig producer and fourth-biggest pork processor, confirmed the decision Friday in an emailed statement, blaming the state’s Proposition 12 rule that goes into effect on Jan. 1.
California voters approved the regulation, which advocates say will provide more humane conditions by allowing farm-raised pigs enough room to turn around. The move is a reaction to the widespread use of cages known as gestation crates that constrict the animals’ movement.
Hog producers and pork producers have largely opposed the rule, arguing that costly renovations to farms will raise meat prices, at a time when they were already soaring and contributing to the highest food inflation in years.
