Red Tractor food campaign banned over ‘high welfare of pigs’ claim

Ads for the scheme read: “Pork not porkies. Red Tractor pork is high welfare pork.”

But Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) and 206 members of the public, mostly thought to be supporters of the farm animal welfare charity, complained that the claim was misleading and unsubstantiated.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the umbrella organisation for the British Pig Executive (BPEX), which worded the campaign, said it believed consumers would understand that Red Tractor pork was high welfare compared to pork from other EU countries, but it understood that EU legislation prevented it from making a direct comparison with imported products.

The AHDB said the Red Tractor scheme was the only one to provide welfare assurance for the entire production chain, with farms subject to rigorous annual inspections, random spot checks and quarterly veterinary welfare audits.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it accepted that the quality of pig welfare in the UK was high in comparison with the welfare of pigs in many European countries.

However, it also understood that some aspects of pig farming in the UK, such as farrowing crates, tail-docking and tooth clipping, while better than in some EU countries, were nonetheless still contentious issues.

Red Tractor said: “The fact is that much of the imported pork that we see on shelves is produced in systems that would be illegal in the UK, let alone below Red Tractor standards.”