Brits want food label transparency, Four Paws UK report says

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Four Paws UK released its Behind The Label report on 20 January

Brits want more transparency on food labelling, a new report by animal rights charity Four Paws UK has found.

Behind The Label, released on 20 January, found 78% of the public believe all products sold in supermarkets should carry clear method of production labels.

The report went on to assert 80% of people support banning the keeping of animals in cages on farms and two-thirds back an end to farms where animals are solely raised indoors.

The data came from a nationally representative YouGov poll of 2,166 UK adults.

“People don’t want to guess what they’re eating; they want to know,” said Emily Wilson, Four Paws UK head of campaigns. “Four Paws UK’s new research clearly signals the public’s readiness for mandatory method-of-production labelling.”

The report also found that one in four Brits support the government in setting a target to reduce national meat and dairy consumption.

The charity said those buying meat and dairy items often feel “in the dark” about how to channel their care, compassion and empathy into their shopping habits as food labels “do not tell the whole story”.

While it acknowledged food inflation was the primary barrier to consumers wanting to buy higher welfare shopping choices, it said there was a word blindness when it came to labels, leaving them feeling stuck and unable to differentiate between them and lower-welfare products.

Wilson added: “By giving consumers the power to make informed, ethical choices, we can ultimately reward farmers for employing the best practices.”

The charity said the report arrived at an opportune time, a month after the government published the Animal Welfare Strategy – which called for livestock to “experience not just a life worth living but a good life throughout all life stages”.

As reported by The Grocer, the government most recently launched an eight-week long consultation on phasing out colony cage systems across the laying hen sector by 2032, alongside another on imposing tighter restrictions on sheep mutilation practices such as castration and tail docking.