Rick Stein backs new RSPCA website

A website aimed at helping consumers identify welfare-friendly products has been launched by the RSPCA.

Called ‘The Conscientious Consumer’ the site has the backing of celebrity chef Rick Stein and the society hopes it will increase pressure on supermarkets to review their policies with regard to animal welfare.

A shopping guide provides information on individual supermarkets based on surveys carried out by the RSPCA over the past two years. When it comes to eggs, Marks & Spencer is the only retailer to be awarded full marks based on its policy of only selling free range both in the shell and in all food products.

Waitrose comes a close second—scoring five out of a possible six points—having only sold eggs in the shell from non-cage systems since 2001. While the retailer continues to use cage eggs in its own brand products, its commitment to phasing this out wins favour with the RSPCA. “We are actively moving over to replace eggs from caged hens with free range or organic eggs in our own-brand products,” says Waitrose.

But the big four supermarkets score poorly in the society’s survey with cage eggs still dominating their egg sales. Tesco managed to score one out of six due to “some commitment to responding to a ban on battery cages in England” but ASDA and Sainsbury’s failed to gain any points. Both retailers show no commitment to using non-cage eggs in the face of a home-grown ban on cages, something the RSPCA is lobbying the Government on.


Morrisons is firmly rooted at the bottom of the egg table having failed to respond to two surveys. The RSPCA says it will be repeating surveys and commissioning new ones every year and publishing the latest results on the website. This, it says, will hopefully encourage low-scoring supermarkets to raise their standards of animal welfare.

The website also provides consumers with an overview of the logos found on food packaging, including the Little Red Tractor, Soil Association, Lion Quality Eggs, the Vegetarian Society and Freedom Food.

The Lion scheme attracts praise for the steps taken to control salmonella and for voluntarily banning the use of ‘farm fresh’ as a description on egg packs due to confusion amongst consumers. The scheme is also recognised for implementing increased space requirements for hens kept in non-cage systems.

But not surprisingly the RSPCA is critical of the fact that 75 per cent of Lion eggs are produced in cages. The society also questions the scheme’s independence.

“The British Egg Industry Council sets the standards for egg production,” says the RSPCA. “All eleven members are chairman of the UK egg industry associations.”

Freedom Food, however, is described as being “entirely independent from the food industry” but even the RSPCA’s own animal welfare assurance scheme does not escape some criticism.

“There is no independent consumer input into the process of developing the welfare standards,” reports the website, after the Food Standards Agency suggested that “a consumer addition could bring wider understanding of consumer aspirations”.


Celebrity chef Rick Stein believes the best foods come from producers who really look after

“Asking supermarkets to source their products from less intensive, more welfare friendly-friendly farms will not only give you much tastier eggs, meat and milk ,” he says, “it will prevent cruelty and give millions of animal a better life.”

The ‘Conscientious Consumer’ website can be found at www.rspca.org.uk/consumers