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Sarah Brown says no to veal meal at G8

In an act of conscience unlikely to endear her to a nation of avid meat-eaters, Sarah Brown twice refused to eat veal during official receptions at the G8 summit in Italy.

Sarah Brown: Sarah Brown refuses to eat veal at G8 Summit in Italy
On both occasions when veal was offered, Mrs Brown turned it down Credit: Photo: EPA

The Prime Minister's wife has long-standing objections to the way in which calves are reared in crates and kept in the dark to ensure their meat is white.

Veal is a popular dish in Italy and featured twice on menus for the spouses of G8 leaders during the three-day summit in L'Aquila.

Mrs Brown, 45, said yesterday she hoped she would not be offered veal again on the final day of the summit.

Writing on Twitter, she said: "Am hoping that no veal served at lunch again today - have declined it twice this trip as just feel very strongly about it."

Her stance was welcomed by animal welfare organisations.

"What Sarah Brown did was fantastic and it was absolutely the right thing to do," said an RSPCA spokesman.

"We are always happy when any high profile figure makes a statement against the cruel treatment of animals, which is what Sarah did.

"The RSPCA has been campaigning against white, European veal for some time.

"It is a very cruel practice, whereby calves are kept in crates and are fed a diet of milk to keep their flesh white."

However, British farming groups pointed out that calves are now raised in much better conditions.

They also said there was a big difference between the way veal calves were raised on the Continent and the conditions under which they are kept in Britain.

"Veal produced in the UK is high welfare, commonly known as rosé veal. It is subject to strict regulation on animal welfare," said a spokesman for Eblex, a division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.

While rejecting veal, Mrs Brown nevertheless tucked into some unusual Italian specialities during the visit, including green pea ice cream, which she pronounced "delicious".

While the Prime Minister was involved with the summit, Mrs Brown had a busy schedule of her own, having a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI and touring L'Aquila, which was badly damaged by April's earthquake.