London, July 11 (ANI): Sarah Brown might belong to a nation of avid meat-eaters, but the wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown twice declined eating veal during official receptions at the G8 summit in Italy.

The PM’s spouse has long been against the way calves are reared in crates, and kept in the dark to ensure their meat is white.

Veal, a popular dish in Italy, featured twice on menus for the spouses of G8 leaders during the three-day summit in L’Aquila.

But, writing on her Twitter page, Sarah Brown, 45, said that she was hoping that she would not be offered veal again on the final day of the summit.

“Am hoping that no veal served at lunch again today - have declined it twice this trip as just feel very strongly about it,” the Telegraph quoted her as saying on Twitter.

Animal welfare organisations praised her for her stance.

“What Sarah Brown did was fantastic and it was absolutely the right thing to do. We are always happy when any high profile figure makes a statement against the cruel treatment of animals, which is what Sarah did,” said an RSPCA spokesman.

The spokesman added: “The RSPCA has been campaigning against white, European veal for some time. It is a very cruel practice, whereby calves are kept in crates and are fed a diet of milk to keep their flesh white.”

While in Italy, Sarah Brown had a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI and toured L’Aquila, which was badly damaged by April’s earthquake. (ANI)