Claire Williams
Companies may be forced to reveal the truth behind how animals are raised for food.
Companies have long been hiding behind fancy marketing and confusing labels to ensure the British public doesn’t learn the truth about how animals are raised for food. But this may be a thing of the past.
Right now, the UK has no laws requiring companies to show the conditions most animals are raised in on the labels of dairy and meat products. Images of happy animals in green fields are common on packaging, a stark contrast from the often filthy and overcrowded barns or cages that animals are often confined to.
Supermarkets have differing and confusing labels. For example, Tesco’s ‘room to roam’ and Co-op’s ‘space to thrive’ are terms that sound similar but mean very different realities for the animals. While ‘Room to Roam’ means chickens will have all the welfare protections of the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), including an important move away from fast-growing breeds, more space, and enrichment, Co-op’s ‘Space to Thrive’ only gives the chickens more space. More space is progress, but without changing to slower-growing breeds, chickens will continue to suffer unimaginably.
While the best thing any individual can do to avoid animal suffering is to leave animals off their plates, those who do eat animal products are left in the dark about what the life of the animal behind the packet on the shelf was like. But all this may be about to change.
The Government has now launched a consultation on introducing mandatory labelling on packaging for all animals raised for food, to reveal the conditions they were raised in. This could make a huge difference for animals and for the future of farming in the UK, giving greater transparency to how these animals are raised.
Most of the one billion chickens raised for meat every single year are bred to suffer on factory farms. But clearer labels, if they are accurate and effective, could help those who eat meat make more informed choices, empowering them to choose the highest welfare possible, in turn helping these types of farming replace factory farming.
There is a precedent here. After mandatory method of production labelling was introduced for eggs in 2004, the proportion of hens raised in cramped cages dropped from a vast majority, to just under a quarter today. People were able to make an informed choice and they overwhelmingly chose, and keep choosing, free-range eggs.
We know that Brits want animals raised for food to be treated better, but find it extremely difficult to know how to buy higher welfare products. A 2023 YouGov Survey revealed that 71% of people agreed that if a supermarket provided animal welfare information on chicken products, it would influence which chicken product they chose to buy.
Knowledge is power. We believe people should know how the animals that end up on their plates are treated. We believe people should have the power to decide what to buy based on their values, and what’s truly important to them.
If successful, this initiative could have a real positive impact on the millions of animals suffering on farms in the UK. But it’s not a done deal. Until May 7 2024, we have an opportunity to have our say and make sure any proposals for new laws use a system that accurately tells shoppers what kind of life the animal had.
We know that you care about animals. But we also know taking action can be time-consuming, and people are often too busy to get involved. That’s why we’ve created this email that you can send to the Government and have your say.
Click below to take action and help us build a better future for animals.
