Why Are Retailers Allowed to Mislead Us?

We are, supposedly, a nation of animal lovers. We love our pets and we give generously to animal charities, yet we continue to buy vast quantities of intensively reared meat that causes untold cruelty to millions of animals. One of the big reasons for this dichotomy is simply that most people are ignorant of the conditions in which the animals they eat are raised.

Intensively reared chickens at retailers like Tesco often don't even say that they were kept indoors, never mind informing the consumer of the cruelty involved in the process. In fact they often, in my opinion, actively mislead, with quaint photos of farmers standing outside and a description of how these chickens are raised to the 'highest welfare standards'.

It is a disgrace that in 2009 Britain, our retailers are allowed to get away with this.

It is in the interests of us all that we spend our money as informed consumers so that we can truly make a free choice as to what we buy.

The 'Chicken Out' campaign has been running a competition on its website to come up with a label for intensively reared chickens which properly allows consumers to know exactly what they are buying.

Take a look at the winning entry here.

There is also a link on the site to email your MP to encourage them to sign an Early Day Motion on this very subject.