Swill feeding pigs

Did you know that swill feeding is illegal in Australia?  This means that it is illegal to feed food waste containing meat or other mammalian by-products to pigs.

Biosecurity officers carry out regular inspections of piggeries, a role vital in protecting our pork industry and markets.

There are significant penalties if convicted of supplying and/ or feeding prohibited substances to pigs. To avoid the possibility of incurring these penalties, it's vital that you know what food waste is allowed to be fed to all pigs, farmed or pet.

Some food waste is classed as 'prohibited substance' which means it's illegal to feed to pigs in Australia.

What is swill feeding?

Swill feeding is the traditional term used to describe the offering of food waste to pigs.

Swill feeding was once a common practice to reduce the costs of feeding. This practice is now banned in all states and territories including New South Wales. 

The ban was implemented to reduce the risk of a serious exotic disease breakout in Australia. Swill feeding was found to be the cause of the devastating Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2001.

Feeding pigs and protecting our export markets

Everyone has a role to play, whether you run a commercial piggery, have a pet pig or work in the food industry you need to know what you can feed to pigs and how to dispose of feed waste appropriately.

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Video transcript

Little Piggies - The Real Story

little piggies the real story this

little piggy went to market let's keep

it that way

to protect New South Wales as livestock

markets we need to keep exotic diseases

such as African swine fever and foot and

mouth disease out of Australia these

diseases are most likely to be spread by

pigs eating infected food together they

represent a significant threat to our

livestock industries this little piggy

stayed at home all pigs even pet pigs

can get sick and spread disease from

eating infected food foot and mouth

disease can also be spread to other

livestock species such as cows sheep

goats and deer this little piggy had

roast beef what you feed your pigs can

cause foot and mouth disease pigs can

get sick from eating food that contains

meat scraps or things that have been in

contact with meat such as plate

scrapings feeding this type of food to

pigs is known as swill feeding and it is

illegal in Australia meat pies cheese

and bacon rolls table scraps that have

been in contact with meat and untreated

used cooking oils can not be fed to pigs

this little piggy had none

don't feed your pigs swell to keep them

healthy the best option is to use feed

from a reputable feed supplier some

things you can feed to pigs are

Australian milk or milk legally imported

for stock feed eggs dry meal made from

meat blood or bone processed by

commercial hot rendering and bought from

a reputable produce store or feed

merchants bakery food that doesn't

contain meat fruit vegetables and

cereals this little piggy went wee wee

wee wee wee all the way home New South

Wales exported 31.1 million dollars

worth of pork in 2018 with the biggest

markets being Singapore New Zealand and

Papua New Guinea

help protect our industry from serious

diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease

and swine fevers biosecurity be part of

it contact your nearest local Land

Services or Department of Primary

Industries office for more information

you

Swill feeding is illegal in Australia.  

This means that it is illegal to feed food waste containing meat or other mammalian by-products to pigs.

Swill may contain serious exotic diseases that could devastate our livestock industries and stop our meat products being exported.

If you suspect that prohibited food waste is being supplied or fed to pigs, contact the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) Biosecurity Helpline on 1800 680 244.

How does swill feeding cause disease in pigs?

• Infected livestock are processed into meat products overseas.
• Infected meat or meat products may be illegally imported into Australia undetected by quarantine.
• Food scraps containing infected meat or meat products are illegally fed to pigs.
• Pigs become infected with a serious exotic disease such as African swine fever.
• Disease spreads quickly to other pigs by pig movements and infected materials.

What can't I feed to pigs?

Prohibited foods include:

• pies, sausage rolls, bacon & cheese rolls, pizza, deli meats, table scraps, etc
• any carcass (mammal or bird)
• the excreta or droppings of any mammal or bird
• household, commercial or industrial waste
• used cooking oil or fat or any substance that has been in contact or in the same container or storage facility as any of the prohibited substances.

What can I feed my pigs?

Permitted foods include:

• non-meat bakery items
• fruit and vegetables
• cereals
• eggs
• milk products and milk by-products of either Australian origin or imported into Australia.

Feeding swill and Restricted Animal Material (RAM) is illegal in all states and territories of Australia. Feeding swill may lead to serious diseases in pigs including foot and mouth disease and African and classical swine fevers. 

RAM may contain agents that cause fatal brain diseases such as mad cow disease. If purchasing feed, check the stock feed product label to make sure it is safe for pigs.

Australia is currently free of these diseases but food waste containing these pathogens may be illegally imported into Australia undetected by quarantine. 

Banning the feeding of prohibited food waste to pigs and ruminants provides an important defence against these and other serious livestock diseases to Australia.