Brazilian meatpacker JBS has stopped providing specific details on the sources of its beef supply as Amazon forest fires rage and blame is placed on cattle ranchers and loggers.
“JBS’ decision to limit transparency comes at a time the meatpacking industry in Brazil is seeing closer scrutiny for its associations with increasing deforestations risks in the Amazon,” reported Chain Reaction Research, a sustainability risk analysis firm.
An investigation published in October by Brazilian NGO O Eco Association shared that JBS no longer provides the data needed to determine whether it is purchasing cattle from protected or illegally deforested areas.
The company’s Trust From Origin website once provided exact coordinates of its 80,000 cattle ranches, but now the site redirects to a different site that only provides the general area of the source of supply, or fails to return search results.
“Due to privacy concerns of our producer partners, the company limited some of the information posted on its website, while continuing to provide the name of the farms,” JBS told Foodnavigator-Latam.
