Some 83% of UK consumers want method of production labelling, which clearly identifies the farm system used to produce the food, extended to meat and dairy products. Almost as many, 79%, said farm animal welfare was important when deciding which food products to buy.
The research was commissioned by Labelling Matters, a joint project of Compassion in World Farming, RSPCA, Soil Association and World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA). It found that the welfare of farm animals was an important factor when choosing food and that there is a strong demand by UK shoppers for mandatory method of production labelling.
Helen Browning, chief executive of the Soil Association, said: "Clear, honest labelling of meat and dairy produce is crucial if the European Commission is to make good on its ambition for the market to drive improvements in farm animal welfare.
"Method of production labelling is not about telling people what to buy – it's about giving them a straightforward choice. The best products for welfare, including organic, are often already labelled. But until the rest are too, consumers are left to hope or assume that everything else on the shelf was produced just as humanely.
"Making clear the reality – for example that around 90% of chickens and pigs reared for meat in the EU are housed in intensive systems– is fairer for consumers and for those farmers working to higher welfare standards."
Julia Wrathall, head of farm animals at the RSPCA, said: "Despite clear method of production labelling of eggs and new EU legislation to label fish by method of catch, consumers are still kept in the dark about the farm systems used to produce the vast majority of their meat and dairy products.
"It can be extremely difficult for consumers trying to buy higher welfare products. So many meat and dairy labels use misleading language and images to suggest good welfare even when the animals have been reared in standard intensive systems. As we have seen with eggs, consumers have the power to drive improvements in farm systems, but they can only do this if there is honest, comparable information on products they buy."
