The proposed law comes after slaughterhouses in the country came under intense scrutiny following footage from activist groups showing some slaughterhouses killing animals without stunning them first.

Twenty eight French MPs voted in favor of the rules, while four opposed them. The vote must now clear the French Senate before becoming law.

Following the announcement, Animal Aid - one of the UK's leading animal protection organisations - said it is calling on the British government to bring forward similar measures.

In other news, a scientist with the University of Alberta, Canada, says research suggests that the microorganisms in the guts of pigs that help ward off disease can be transferred to other pigs to improve their health.

Dr Ben Willing, University of Alberta, commented: "Microbiomes can vary quite a bit between animal to animal and each animal will have it's own distinct population but you'll certainly see that animals that are living in a similar environment and are living together will have much more similar microbiomes than animals that are living in different environments."

"We certainly see evidence that microbiomes can be transferred, particularly in the case when we see animals that are mixed. If you take animals that have lived apart and then you put them into that same environment you'll see that their microbiomes will start to look closer to each other, so obviously there's a transfer from one animal to another."