Food Labelling

Many people want to help animals but aren’t sure how they can do this. More and more people especially want better standards for animals that are bred, reared and killed for food.

If you buy animal products, one easy way to help farmed animals is to check the labels and choose those products from animals that were kept in higher welfare systems. More and more people are choosing to buy higher-welfare produce such as organic, free-range or Freedom Food certified.

As consumers we are able to change the way animals are treated every time we shop. Let’s use this power! For the best welfare standards choose organic whenever possible, especially Soil Association organic standards as these are usually the highest.

Here’s a simple guide to what the most common higher welfare labels mean for the animals.

Higher welfare: Organic

Organic products are generally from animals reared to the highest welfare standards. For example, animals are reared with outdoor access and lower stocking densities.

There are currently nine different organisations who can give organic certification. All organic standards have to meet the minimum requirement but some, like the Soil Association, exceed the minimum in a number of areas. The Soil Association Organic Standard provides the highest welfare certifiable standards in the UK, such as smaller flock sizes for chickens and no live exporting of dairy calves.

Higher welfare: Free-range

In free-range systems, animals have access to the outdoors for at least part of their life and generally have a longer lifetime, since they are reared less intensively.  EU regulations define the requirements for eggs and poultry meat products marketed as ‘free range’, in terms of space allowance, outdoor access and age at slaughter. 

Higher welfare: Freedom Food

Freedom Food is the RSPCA labelling and assurance scheme. The scheme covers both indoor and outdoor rearing systems and ensures, among other things, that space allowances and provision of bedding material are greater than the legal minimum.

If it doesn't say higher welfare on the label....

There is a lack of clear information and a wide range of different welfare labels and assurance schemes. Not surprisingly, some people find this confusing and aren’t sure what the labels mean and which they should buy. Most food labels confirm compliance with minimum legal regulations but do little or nothing to address serious welfare problems such as confinement in cages, high stocking densities, fast-growing breeds and mutilations.  In addition, some labels on animal-derived products can also be positively misleading. Remember that if a product doesn’t have one of the above higher-welfare labels on it, it is likely to have come from animals reared in intensive, low welfare conditions.

OneKind's campaign for Better Food Labelling

OneKind is working to improve the welfare labelling of animal products. A standardised EU-wide law requiring all animal products to be clearly and honestly according to the system of production would help consumers to make even more informed purchasing choices. Find out more and support OneKind's campaign for Better Food Labelling.