The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has renewed calls for the introduction of mandatory method-of-production labelling on animal products.
The call comes as the RSPCA has said that the UK Government has dragged its heels on releasing the outcome of a consultation carried out last year.
On May 7, 2024, the previous UK Government concluded its eight-week consultation into clearer labels on how pork, chicken and eggs are produced in order to provide the public with transparency over the food they buy.
However, a year later and the public – including more than 20,000 people who supported the RSPCA’s #BetterLabelsBetterChoices campaign – are still yet to see the results of the consultation.
Animal welfare
Mandatory labelling indicating how an animal has been reared is not currently required on most animal products in the food industry which the RSPCA said makes it hard to make an informed choice on the supermarket aisles.
The RSPCA is now calling on the government to publish the outcome of the consultation and take a step forward by introducing mandatory method-of-production labelling.
The animal charity has said that this will provide greater transparency to consumers and hopefully empower them to buy higher welfare products and ultimately improve farm animal welfare standards.
Farm animal welfare expert at the RSPCA, Kate Parkes said: “We know that this is something the public feels strongly about.
“No one wants to unwittingly buy products that have come from farm animals kept in low welfare conditions but the difficulty consumers have is that it is incredibly hard to decipher from the packaging how an animal has been cared for and we know that the conditions farm animals experience can vary greatly.”
The RSPCA said that research shows that, on average, consumers take between 41 and 81 seconds to choose their meat so clear, factual labelling which can be easily understood is needed to give consumers the transparency they deserve.
According to an RSPCA poll, six out of 10 people (64%) do not think current labelling on food is transparent in terms of the level of welfare experienced by the farm animal.
And four out of five people (81%) think having this knowledge is important when purchasing products.
Parkes added: “A chicken who is kept in a shed all day with little light or room to move around is going to have a very different experience to a chicken who has space to move around freely and opportunities to exhibit their natural behaviours.
“Similarly, a pig who is kept on a bare, slatted floor with little enrichment is more likely to be distressed compared to a pig who has been given plenty of space and material such as straw to root around in and provide vital stimulation for their keen minds.
“This is why we introduced the RSPCA Assured label 31 years ago so consumers know their food has been reared to higher welfare standards.
“But this voluntary scheme only covers a small part of the industry, and it’s important that consumers can make an informed choice about every product they buy.”
Mandatory labelling
As well as the public expressing their views on labelling, the RSPCA and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also submitted evidence to the government on why mandatory labelling is so important.
Head of public affairs at the RSPCA, David Bowles said: “We urge the UK Government to release the outcome of last year’s consultation and develop plans for urgently implementing mandatory method of production labelling. It is not clear what will be gained from further delay.
“We also want to see the proposals go further and the scope widened to include labelling not just on chicken, pork and eggs but all animal products including fish, dairy, and other meat.
“We need to see decisive action from the UK Government on this issue – an issue we know that the majority of the public care about.
“Giving people choice over the products they buy and eat is such a basic step, and as a nation which prides itself on its animal welfare standards, it’s shocking that this has not been carried out sooner.”
The RSPCA is urging the public to contact their MPs to put pressure on the government to act.
