RSPCA Assured

RSPCA Assured
Founded1994
TypeFarmed animal welfare food assurance scheme
FocusAnimal welfare
Location
OriginsRSPCA
Area served
United Kingdom

RSPCA Assured is a not-for-profit farm animal welfare assurance and food labelling scheme from the RSPCA. All farms on the RSPCA Assured scheme must comply with the RSPCA's "stringent higher welfare standards".[1] RSPCA Assured assesses farms, hauliers and abattoirs and if they meet every standard, the RSPCA Assured label can be used on their food product.[2] RSPCA Assured was founded in 1994 as Freedom Food, with the standards of welfare based on the five freedoms that were defined by the UK Government's Farm Animal Welfare Committee.[3] In 2015, Freedom Food was rebranded as RSPCA Assured and claims that all animals under its scheme are raised to "higher farm animal welfare standards".[1][4] In 2017, it was estimated that since its creation the RSPCA Assured scheme has raised 600 million animals under its welfare standards.[5] Animal welfare historians have noted that the RSPCA Assured scheme has influenced other humane food certification programs operating worldwide.[5][6]

In recent years, the RSPCA Assured scheme has received criticism from media coverage of animal cruelty that has taken place on RSPCA Assured farms.[7][8]

  1. ^ a b "What is RSPCA Assured?". RSPCA Assured. 2024. Archived from the original on August 14, 2024.
  2. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". RSPCA Assured. 2024. Archived from the original on August 26, 2024.
  3. ^ Lawrence, Geoffrey; Higgins, Vaughan (2007). Agricultural Governance: Globalization and the New Politics of Regulation. Taylor & Francis. pp. 178–180. ISBN 978-1134262823.
  4. ^ "RSPCA Assured: Annual Review 2022" (PDF). RSPCA. 2022.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Steier 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Duncan 2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Monbiot, George (18 June 2024). "How Britain's oldest animal welfare charity became a byword for cruelty on an industrial scale". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  8. ^ Gadher, Dipesh (9 June 2024). "Chris Packham: The truth at some RSPCA-assured farms makes me sick". The Times. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024.