Why are there so many schemes and labels?

Not all assurance schemes are equal. While some may be focused on food safety, others may specifically address animal welfare (e.g. Freedom Foods) and others may assure the farmer used environmentally sound production methods (e.g. organic standards). Even between schemes that assure the same trait (for example, food safety), the standards the schemes use may differ. Because of this, there are many different schemes, each with their own standards and criteria trying to communicate with consumers.

Typically, each assurance scheme deals with one ‘sector’ of livestock production. This means that on a farm with pigs, cows and poultry, the producer may belong to five different assurance schemes: one for his pigs, one for his milk cows, one for his beef cattle, one for his laying hens, and one for his eggs!

The result is the current situation: many different assurance schemes using many different standards trying to entice consumers with many different labels. One of the biggest complaints from consumers today is that assurance schemes are seen as marketing tools rather than real product assurance.

Will this change?

Currently there is interest in harmonising the standards and criteria between the multitudes of schemes so there is less confusion. Logos like the Red Tractor, which can be applied to assurance scheme products from many different sectors, will be a good way of reducing confusion, but only if they ensure people understand the standards they are assuring.

How do they work?

Assurance scheme owners develop standards while certification bodies, accredited in the UK by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), check compliance at farm level.

UKAS has varying levels of accreditation. In the UK, there are currently eight certification bodies accredited by UKAS to EN45011 standard.

Accreditation to EN45011 standard means the body is capable of evaluating producers’ compliance with the assurance scheme standards. The certification body evaluates producer compliance by hiring and training inspectors to examine the records of scheme producers and conduct on-site visits for a proportion of the producers involved with the scheme.

There are three important factors that ensure the schemes are effective:

Certification bodies need to be independent third-party organisations, so that the inspections will not be biased in any way.
It is important to know how many producers that belong to the scheme are physically inspected every year. The more farms that are inspected, the more likely non-compliance will be detected; schemes that have unannounced inspections will be more likely to find cases of non-compliance than those that use only announced visits.
The type of action taken against producers who fail to comply with scheme standards is very important.

Do assurance schemes guarantee good welfare?

The Food Safety Act of 1990 makes retailers responsible for selling safe food. Because they bear the burden of responsibility, retailers must have a way of ensuring that the food they purchase from producers is safe. The traceability of food has been one of the driving forces behind the establishment of many assurance schemes.

While some aspects of food safety are associated with animal welfare (such as disease), many production methods that impact on animal welfare will not affect food safety and, therefore, will not be affected by the assurance scheme.

What schemes are already in place?

There are three main categories for assurance schemes: baseline schemes, premium (or higher level) schemes and organic schemes. The animal welfare implications of organic food production will be considered separately; this section will evaluate baseline and premium schemes and will also consider retailer brands.

The majority of the assurance schemes in the UK are baseline schemes. Many of these schemes may not have explicit animal welfare guidelines or require the producer to meet legal minimum requirements. The Farm Animal Welfare Council has recommended, to the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food, that all baseline schemes should meet both required legal minimums and non-binding codes for animal welfare standards. The Commission endorsed both of these recommendations.

Baseline schemes

In the UK, baseline schemes assure over 65 per cent of beef and lamb and over 85 per cent of milk, eggs, chicken, and pork. Most of these are assured through schemes managed by Assured Food Standards (AFS), an umbrella organisation overseeing many different assurance schemes. AFS operates the Red Tractor logo, one of the most widely recognised logos by consumers, incorporating 78,000 farmers in the UK. It was established by livestock producers, with the aim of ensuring the participating assurance schemes had ‘effective food safety’.

Each assurance scheme receives input from a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), which reviews and recommends changes for the scheme standards. If you would like to see increased standards for animal welfare in assurance schemes, why not try contacting the scheme holder and request their TAC implement welfare explicit standards that exceed the current legal minimums?

Premium schemes

Defined by the National Consumer Council as schemes that ‘significantly exceeded the Red Tractor baseline’ on a particular trait, premium schemes have a very small market share. A premium animal welfare scheme has explicitly stated criteria for production practices that impact on animal welfare (e.g. stocking densities, mutilations, etc.), and these standards exceed the legally required minimum.

In the UK, there is very low awareness of premium schemes in contrast to baseline schemes (such as the Red Tractor label that is recognised by approximately 30 per cent of consumers). According to the Farm Animal Welfare Council, Freedom Foods - established by the RSPCA - is the most explicitly welfare-oriented assurance scheme in the UK. Unlike many other schemes, the standards apply to the animals from birth to slaughter.

Although the majority of schemes are baseline, some are now adding specific welfare input requirements (see below).

Welfare Quality

Welfare Quality is a European Union research programme currently developing scientific on-farm welfare assessment techniques. It is hoped that in the future this project will provide animal-based measures of welfare that can be added to assurance scheme standards, so that more schemes will have explicit animal welfare standards.

Retailer brand products

Many retailers now have their own ‘retailer brand’ range of products. The retailers have their own standards about the products that are sold under their brand name, and some of these now include stipulations about animal welfare. Additionally, some retailers have decided to implement standards for every brand of a particular product sold in their store. For example, Marks and Spencer’s sells only free-range egg products; this applies to their own brand, as well as to all other brands of eggs they sell. Retailer websites are a good place to find additional information about their standards, and some additional information is available by clicking here.

How do I know a scheme ensures welfare?

It is difficult for us, as consumers, to be aware of every available assurance scheme and what it means for animal welfare. Every assurance scheme has standards available for review, but some are more easily accessible than others. Short of contacting the schemes directly and reading the standards for yourself, it is almost impossible to know from the label what the standards are and how they are certified. See ‘Labels to look out for’ for a short list of assurance schemes that promote levels of welfare above the legal minimum.