A survey of 613 regional Victorian restaurants, hotels and other food outlets found 71 supplied waste to pig owners, reports Weekly Times Now.

Most did not feed pigs waste containing meat or meat byproducts but a DEPI spokeswoman said legal action was pending on several cases of suspected swill feeding.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has raised concerns about the illegal practice.

VFF pigs president, John Bourke, said with only 12 per cent of food outlets surveyed it meant hundreds of food outlets across Australia were supplying their waste to livestock owners creating serious biosecurity concerns.

"The risk is that a fair proportion of this food waste contains meat, which cannot be fed to pigs or other livestock," he said.

The DEPI spokeswoman said swill feeding carried a fine of up to A$17,500.

But Mr Bourke said the fine was "pittance" to the risk it posed to Australia's livestock industry if Foot and Mouth Disease struck, added the Weekly Times Now report.

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