Food labels offer consumer choices but also confusion about animal
welfare

Date:
July 7, 2023
Source:
Purdue University
Summary:
Animal-based food products often come packaged in a wide array of
information labels, including organic, natural, grass-fed, humanely
raised and pasture-raised. But it's typically up to the consumer to
do their homework and figure out what these different claims mean.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Animal-based food products often come packaged in a wide array of
information labels, including organic, natural, grass-fed, humanely
raised and pasture- raised.

"There's some confusion about food labels related to animal welfare,"
said Purdue University's Marisa Erasmus, associate professor of
animal sciences and a specialist in animal behavior and welfare. "It's typically up to the consumer to do their homework and figure out what
these different claims mean. Labels do provide consumers with a choice
because, in theory, you can choose products that align with your personal
and social values." Erasmus' comments follow the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's newly launched effort to strengthen the validity of animal-raising claims. Erasmus and her colleagues will be watching to
see what additional documentation animal food producers will need to
provide regarding food label claims.

In general, she noted, producers need to submit certain claims about
their food products to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service for approval. The FSIS regulates certain food labels and claims on meat and
poultry products.

Some claims require that producers submit documentation before approval
is granted.

"One point of confusion is which claims are associated with animal
welfare certification organizations that use third-party verification,"
Erasmus said.

"Producers that work with one of these organizations can put the
latter's seal on their products to indicate that the animals were
raised according to certain standards. Typically, those standards are
intended to offer higher animal welfare than what you would see with
a conventional product. But a lot of consumers don't necessarily know
what these different seals mean. And the absence of a label claim does
not mean that food animals were raised inhumanely." Other labels have
more to do with how people perceive the health benefits of a product
and do not relate as much to the animal's welfare.

"We definitely want to make sustainable, healthy choices," Erasmus
said. "But just because an animal product has an organic label on it
doesn't always mean that animal had a better life than an animal that
wasn't raised organically." The USDA regulates organics through the
National Organic Program, which offers a label distinct from those
provided by other sources.

The idea of "no antibiotics added" is another claim that can cause
confusion.

"This label is confusing because antibiotics are occasionally used to
treat live animals or prevent illness, but antibiotics are not added to
meat products." If animals are given antibiotics at some point in their
lives, then there is a mandatory withdrawal period. That period allows
the antibiotics to pass from the animal's system before any products
are created from that animal.

Erasmus and her colleagues work closely with producers in Indiana and
across the U.S. to support humane animal production practices and conduct research providing guidelines for animal welfare and management. The
Poultry Extension Collaborative provides more details about animal food
product labeling in the July 2023 issue of Poultry Press.

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Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230707111640.htm

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