HOW food animals are treated before slaughter has once again been brought to the fore by the British Veterinary Association.
The BVA has called for mandatory method of food labelling that will include welfare information about the livestock involved, in particular whether or not the animal was pre-stunned, arguing that this could offer post-Brexit UK farmers a unique selling point by providing consumers with the peace of mind about humane slaughter that they want. 
However, the people behind the UK’s various farm meat assurance labels have responded that they are already providing exactly that.
BVA president Sean Wensley explained: “For vets it is a top priority that the animals we rear for food have a good life and a humane death. Research shows that vets are not alone in caring about where their food comes from.”
According to European Product Labels Research commissioned by the Labelling Matters campaign, consumers in the UK and across Europe are confused by current labelling and are often unable to tell what the welfare standards are for animals used in the product.
Further, 80% of respondents said that they want labelling that clearly shows which farm system was used to produce their meat and dairy product – and a study of 13,500 meat consumers across 27 EU Member States found that 72% want information about the stunning of animals when buying meat.
“Mandatory method of production labelling makes sense on a number of fronts: consumers can be clearly and consistently informed about how the animals reared for their meat and dairy products were kept, with on-farm welfare assessments assuring high standards,” said Mr Wensley. “Mandatory method of production labelling would give unambiguous information to the high numbers of consumers who care about animal welfare when buying meat and dairy products and help ensure market support for British farmers who pride themselves on achieving the highest welfare standards.”
The vets pointed to the mandatory “method of production” labelling already implemented for shell eggs, which must legally be labelled either as “eggs from caged hens”, “barn eggs”, “free range” or “organic”, and suggested that this principle be extended to meat and dairy products from other farmed animals.
However, the chief executive of the Red Tractor assurance label, David Clarke, commented: “As far as methods of slaughter are concerned, Red Tractor has always required pre-slaughter stunning, and the Red Tractor logo on products gives the consumer the assurance that what they’re buying adheres to that. 
“The BVA are calling for regulation of farming systems, which is a huge step – making it mandatory is an almost impossible task. You can identify an almost infinite number of farming systems – the worry is introducing too many and causing confusion!”
Quality Meat Scotland agreed that the measures already in place should reassure consumers: “Animal welfare is a very important aspect of the QMS quality assurance standards and something which consumers view as of increasing importance,” said a spokesperson.
“The Scotch Beef PGI, Scotch Lamb PGI and Specially Selected Pork logos provide reassurance to consumers of both provenance and high standards of production, including animal welfare and wellbeing – all of which also play an important part in a quality eating experience. We also work closely with Scotland’s leading animal welfare charity, the Scottish SPCA , and we are proud to have a pioneering Animal Welfare and Wellbeing Charter.”