Food labelling for animal welfare is inconsistent and often misleading. Understanding what labels mean — and what they do not — empowers consumers to make genuinely informed choices.
Food labelling for animal welfare is a landscape of genuine information and misleading marketing. Terms like natural, free-farmed, and humanely raised carry no legal welfare meaning in most jurisdictions and can be applied to products from systems with minimal welfare standards. Third-party certified labels with specific requirements and auditing — RSPCA Assured, Certified Humane, Animal Welfare Approved — provide meaningful, verifiable information. Mandatory method of production labelling, standard for eggs in the EU, enables genuine consumer choice and has driven welfare improvements across the egg sector. Extending mandatory production method labelling to meat and dairy products would empower consumers and create systemic incentives for welfare improvement across the food system.