It’s outrageous. The UK Government has dropped yet another pledge on farmed animal welfare.

Please tell the Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to reinstate the promised consultation on honest food labelling.

For animals, for people

For years, Compassion supporters have called for meat and dairy products to be labelled, like eggs, to make it clear how animals are kept. Such labels can help shoppers make informed choices, and tell the truth about the cages and overcrowded sheds on factory farms.

In August 2022, the determined campaign for honest labels achieved a major breakthrough: The UK Government announced that it would consult, during 2023, on mandatory animal welfare labelling.

A flurry of activity followed, and Defra sought Compassion’s opinion as they prepared the consultation. But then things went quiet. Time passed. We wrote to the Secretary of State at the time, Thérèse Coffey. No response.

Then, our team received an update from Defra. It stated that, despite the “public appetite for improved welfare labelling” they “do not consider the time is right” to consult on this issue.

This disgraceful U-turn could leave shoppers in the dark and animals suffering behind vague, even misleading, food labels. Please email the current Secretary of State, Steve Barclay, today.

Worth fighting for

Since 2004, eggs have been labelled to state how hens are housed. And, now, the majority of the UK’s hens live cage-free. So, extending welfare labelling could be a huge step towards transforming the lives of millions of animals.

This makes the Government’s backsliding on a consultation utterly unacceptable – and we won’t let this issue rest. Please take a few minutes to keep up the fight for honest food labelling and speak out for farmed animals.

Email now