Overview

• Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s halted pork deliveries from Cranswick’s Somerby Top Farm after Animal Justice Project footage showed routine pig abuse and botched killings of lame piglets.
• Red Tractor suspended the farm’s certification with immediate effect, describing the footage as “deeply distressing,” and passed the matter to the government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency.
• Cranswick said the footage was filmed between May 2024 and January 2025, removed the staff shown, apologised for historic welfare lapses and has recruited new welfare officers, retrained workers and begun installing AI-enabled CCTV.
• Retailers and Cranswick have launched parallel investigations into farm practices and compliance, with final determinations to be made by Red Tractor and the APHA.
• The eight-month gap between filming and reporting highlighted weaknesses in whistle-blowing and assurance processes, spurring calls for tighter industry audits and faster reporting channels.