[Animal welfare aspects of the production of veal]

White veal calf fattening by reducing iron in feed results in clinically disturbed state of health, anaemia, loss of weight and inferior growth of calves. Natural variability of meat quality allows to differentiate in young normally fed calves at the age of 2 till 5 weeks between those with either more anaemic white or more natural rose-coloured veal. So now the consumer of white meat can meet his preferred wishes. The parameters of meat: water percentage, water loosely bound, protein, fat, collagene, elastine, ferrum, copper and zinc don't differ in both variants of quality. The same applies to the minerals in the spleen and also to ferrum in the liver on the one hand. On the other hand copper and zinc really differ in the livers of anaemic versus those of calves adequately fed.