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Food label guide on animal welfare practices

A Consumer Guide to Food Labels and Animal Welfare has been put together by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) to try and help consumers understand what they’re buying.

Dena Jones, AWI farm animal program manager, tells Brownfield they are telling consumers that certified labels such as Certified Humane, Animal Welfare Approved and USDA Organic, are the most trustworthy because they are verified by third parties.  However, Jones adds, the USDA uses independent organic inspectors whose standards are not all the same.

Jones says it’s extremely complicated for consumers to decipher label claims and the USDA should not just go by affidavits for claims that are not independently confirmed.

“Our position is, we don’t believe the USDA should be approving the claims unless they’re third party verified. And, USDA has considered this, for animal raising claims, that they should be third party verified.”

Unverified claims such as humanely raised, free range and grass fed, she says, are relevant to animal welfare but aren’t independently audited. And, the AWI says meaningless or misleading claims include natural and no added hormones.

Jones says consumers increasingly want to know how animals are raised for food production and that’s not lost on producers or retailers as labels about animal welfare practices are increasing.