Our campaigns

Honest Labelling

Would you recognise a factory farmed sausage?

Take a look at this label. Not what you’d expect to see on your average pack of sausages?

Meat and dairy labels can be misleading. Many show idyllic images of farmyard animals in picturesque fields, accompanied by encouraging phrases like ‘farm fresh’ or ‘all natural’. But what often lies behind these cheerful scenes is shocking.

Although most UK farmed animals are reared in intensive systems, there’s no law requiring food labels to say how an animal was farmed - except for eggs.

Take Action

Isn't it time that the UK finally had Honest Labelling? Send your email to the Defra Secretary of State today - it takes less than 1 minute!

Act now

How misleading are our food labels?

Recently we asked members of the public to look at some farmed animal products and describe, based on the labelling, how they thought the animal was farmed. They were shocked at how the animals were really kept, highlighting how misleading current labelling can be.

Case study: Eggs

The evidence is clear: once consumers know the full story, many of us choose higher welfare. Take eggs, for example. Compassion supporters were part of a hard-fought campaign that, in 2004, resulted in the introduction of mandatory egg labelling across Europe. By law, egg producers and retailers now have to clearly label whether hens have been raised in cages, barns, free range, or organic systems.

Since then, cage-free egg production has more than doubled, from accounting for 32% of the market in 2003 to around 80% today. Consumers were finally given the full picture and started buying higher welfare eggs as a result.

Our proposal is simple: to extend this mandatory method of production labelling system to all meat and dairy products.

We’ve developed a proposed labelling matrix – our solution to the problem. We’ve already presented this to Defra and are now calling for further action.