Farm welfare concerns leads to RSPCA Assured food label review

Ayesha Smart, a specialist animal welfare barrister who backs the campaign, said she believed the undercover investigation footage she had seen had found legal breaches on RSPCA Assured farms.

She said that “the scheme cannot legitimately say that it ensures the welfare of its farmed animals and is no longer fit for purpose”.

Rose Patterson, from the Animal Rising campaign group, said the RSPCA needed “to be a true leader for all animals and stop welfare-washing animal cruelty”.

The RSPCA Assured scheme – originally known as Freedom Food – was launched 30 years ago.

Certified farms have to follow strict welfare standards that are set out by RSPCA welfare scientists and are higher than is legally required in the UK.

Those that meet the standards can carry the label on their products, stocked in supermarkets including Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, and restaurants including McDonald’s and the Frankie & Benny’s chain.

The RSPCA added that both it and the RSPCA Assured scheme “take any welfare concerns on farms very seriously – this is the sole focus of the scheme and central to the core work of the RSPCA. Failure to conform to the scheme standards is unacceptable”.

A spokeswoman added that once the findings of the review had been assessed “we will take any necessary robust action”.