Originally published June 28 2005
Consumers tend to be confused by food labels touting animal welfare, study finds
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Labels that claim foods were made with the health of animals in mind have been found to confuse consumers, reports Science Daily, because some labels are explicit in their aims for animal welfare, some food labels only imply they are for animal welfare, some labels are so vague it's hard to tell what they are promoting and some products made with animal health in mind are not labeled as such.
The study was conducted by Professor Jonathan Murdoch and Dr Emma Roe of the University's School of City and Regional Planning as part of a major European research programme to improve animal welfare in agriculture across the continent.
They found that welfare-friendly food labels across Europe can be based on competing definitions of animal welfare and often reflect different welfare standards.
Welfare-friendly labels can be divided into three broad groups; those with an explicit welfare content, such as 'Freedom foods' in the UK; those with an implicit welfare component, such as the various organic certification schemes; and those with a more ambiguous welfare component, such as the various quality labels that appear on food products.
Moreover, the researchers say, these different labels can also reflect different approaches to welfare, ranging from the scientifically-based approach of 'Freedom foods' which combines notions of animal health, animal feelings and the ability to express natural behaviours to the more exclusively ecological approach of organic certification schemes.
To complicate matters further for conscientious consumers, not all high quality, high animal-welfare foods are labelled as such, they say.
In Norway, for example, few products are explicitly labelled as being welfare-friendly, as Norwegian consumers already assume that blanket state regulations will ensure a high level of welfare across all animal food products.
Similarly, in the UK certain supermarkets prefer to embrace animal welfare claims within their own retailing brand rather than labelling specific products as welfare-friendly.
"Nowadays food quality is not only determined by the overall nature and safety of the end product but also by the perceived welfare status of the animals from which the food is produced."
The project, known as Welfare Quality, will take into account society's concerns and market demands, to develop reliable on-farm monitoring systems, product information systems and practical ways to improve animal welfare.
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