Animal Wellness Standards

NSF Global Animal Wellness Standards take a holistic approach to animal wellness and go above and beyond traditional animal welfare to include additional dimensions such as the environment, physical conditions and the social and emotional well-being of the animals.

The NSF Global Animal Wellness Standards address the full life cycle of all key species. These standards provide a solution for global companies looking for a consistent approach to animal wellness and are directly aligned with the five freedoms and science-based welfare principles and criteria.

No matter where in the world you source animals/animal products, the standards provide assurance that a strong, consistent animal wellness system is in place along the entire protein supply chain.

The standards cover production, transport, assembly and slaughter for all key species including beef, dairy, small ruminants, pigs, hatchery, meat poultry and egg-laying poultry.

The standards have three tiers (baseline, assurance and certification) so there is an opportunity for specifying customers to bring suppliers on board at the baseline, but encourage growth and development to achieve higher tiers, up to certification.

Why Work With NSF?

NSF developed the NSF Global Animal Wellness Standards to address the full life cycle of all key species and establish best practices for how animals are kept, raised and responsibly managed. The standards are the first of their kind in establishing a universal approach to animal health and wellness.

In addition to being built around our expertise in standards development and background in food safety and quality, the Global Animal Wellness Standards were reviewed by an independent panel representing industry, academia and regulatory authorities. Technical experts from Canada, the U.S., the UK and South America — including Dr. Temple Grandin, a Colorado State University animal science professor and livestock consultant — were selected for their expertise.

NSF has facilitated the development of over 80 currently active voluntary American National Standards under the scope of public health, safety, environment and sustainability assessment.  NSF/ANSI standards are developed through a public process that ensures balanced input from industry representatives, public health/regulatory officials and users/consumer representatives.

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