The major mults have reacted to today’s revelations of animal welfare abuses on two Norfolk farms by suspending contracts and launching urgent investigations into the allegations.

The abuses were exposed by animal welfare lobbying group Animal Equality, which secretly filmed pigs being hit and kicked at farms managed by the East Anglian Pig Co.

The company had been approved by the RSPCA’s Freedom Foods higher welfare scheme but has since been suspended.

A Tesco spokeswoman said the retailer expected “extremely high standards” for animal welfare across its supply chain. “We have immediately stopped taking product from these farms, whilst we investigate this as a matter of urgency with our supplier,” she added.

The Co-operative Group posted a message on its Facebook page saying it had instructed all its own-label suppliers not to source from the affected sites with immediate effect.

“We are committed to supporting British farming and high standards of animal welfare, and [will] act swiftly to investigate and resolve any allegations of bad practice,” it added.

Sainsbury’s also took to Facebook to reassure consumers. It said the abuses reported at EAP were “completely unacceptable” and underlined its commitment to enforcing the RSPCA’s welfare standards within its supply chain.

The retailer added: “Whilst we do not directly source from this farm, we are working with our direct supplier to establish if any of our product has been supplied to them from this farm, and we will work with our supplier and RSPCA to act swiftly.”

Asda said: “We don’t take meat from this abattoir.”