Letter: Reality behind the 'farm fresh' label

Sir: May I applaud your leading article 'Let the consumer lead the way on battery eggs' (13 June). The RSPCA believes consumers have the power to improve the way the UK's 750 million-strong farm animal population is produced. The society has long campaigned for all animal-derived food products to be labelled with the method of production, thereby allowing consumers to choose humanely-produced food.

The labelling of eggs is a pertinent example. No battery eggs are ever labelled as such. Instead, euphemistic and misleading terms such as 'farm fresh' or 'country fresh' are used to conjure up an image in the consumer's mind of a production system that is far from the charming and rustic image they suggest.

The RSPCA is developing a food labelling scheme that will enable consumers to buy meat, eggs and dairy products with an assurance that that product has been produced from animals reared, handled, transported and slaughtered to the highest possible standards of animal welfare.

Yours sincerely,

PETER DAVIES

Director General

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Horsham, West Sussex